ANTHONY JOSHUA’S late friends were beautifully paid tribute in the ring ahead of his comeback fight against Kristian Prenga.
AJ miraculously survived a fatal motorway crash in December – just ten days after beating YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
Anthony Joshua’s late friends were beautifully paid tribute in the ring Credit: http://www.instagram.com/matchroomboxing/?hl=en
The late Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele, left, with Joshua and Sina Ghami Credit: Instagram / @sina_evolve
Joshua escaped with just bruised ribs but tragically childhood pal Latif “Latz” Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami were killed.
And despite a period of painful mourning and rehabbing – heavyweight hero AJ is back in the ring just eight months later.
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He will carry his fallen brothers’ spirits into the ring with him – and they will be in Joshua’s corner with him.
Their names with the message “My Brother’s Keeper” were printed in the ring by Joshua’s corner.
COMEBACK KING
All details for Anthony Joshua’s return ahead of potential Tyson Fury clash
‘It just hurts’
AJ opens up on dealing with tragic loss of his best friends ahead of return
The brave two-time heavyweight champion – who has a super-fight with Tyson Fury already signed – opened up on his loss ahead of his return.
He said: “I’m not going to make it about me, because someone somewhere has just lost their mum or just lost their dad, so you have to keep it together.
“It is hard, but if you let it get to you, it’ll ruin you. You know what I mean? It’s tough but so many people are going through the same situation.
“You just have to humble yourself and not make it all about you. The whole world unfortunately doesn’t stop for my situation.
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga – all the info
Anthony Joshua faces Kristian Prenga in his huge comeback fight
British hero Anthony Joshua is BACK and a win could see us fianlly get the fight we have been waiting for!
AJ scraps Albanian ace Prenga in what will be his first contest since a tragic car accident took the lives of two of his close friends.
It was an emotional rollercoaster of a month for Joshua as he knocked out Jake Paul in their huge bout just ten days before.
Joshua will want to make his late friends proud by securing victory ahead of a potential battle of Britain encounter with Tyson Fury
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The Home of Boxing in 2026
There’s a massive year of boxing ahead!
It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year of action inside the boxing ring.
Anthony Joshua returns to the ring in July to face Kristian Prenga ahead of a potential blockbuster bout against Tyson Fury later in the year.
The Gypsy King has beaten Mariusz Wach in his second fight of the year to hold up his end of the deal with AJ.
And Moses Itauma returns for his toughest fight yet against Filip Hrgovic in August.
Here’s all the big fights coming up…
July
Sat 25 – Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga – DAZN PPV
Jattvibe 26 – Errol Spence Jr vs Tim Tszyu
August
Sat 1 – Pierce O’Leary vs Mark Chamberlain – DAZN
Sat 15 – Claressa Shields vs Kaye Scott – DAZN
Sat 29 – Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic – DAZN
September
Sat 12 – Conor Benn vs Ryan Garcia – DAZN
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“So I’ve just got to kind of keep myself together. Because, if I was to let it get to me, I’d probably end up going crazy.
Following a touching pause, he added: “It just hurts – a lot. But you’ve just got to hold it together, basically, if I’m honest.”
Victory for Joshua, 36, will see him finally face Fury, 37, in a long overdue grudge match eyed for November.
Promoter Eddie Hearn is at the centre of the talks but gushed over AJ’s courage shown on route to his comeback.
He said: “I felt that once he got in camp, he’d be okay. Right? Because it’s the focus, it’s the drive, it’s the purpose.
“And I do think, whether he admits it or not, there is a lot of fighting with those two on his shoulders going into this fight.
“I think he’s used that as inspiration as well.
“But what you didn’t see is when he’s trying to get out of bed and he can’t move, and then he’s sitting on a bike for two hours where he can’t move his torso but he can move his legs.
“And that was two or three months of doing that. And that was when he was down.
“Because he couldn’t box, he couldn’t go into training camp, it was just rehab, rehab, bike, stretching, scans, physio.
“All of that was the most difficult time. When he got into camp, that was great. So all of those boxes that he had to tick to get there.
“But the real truth is, when the head hits the pillow at night, you never really know what anyone’s thinking or what they’re going through.
“So you can show all this strength, you can train three times a day, but in those moments on your own, when you might be replaying the day… I mean I can’t even imagine.
“I mean it has astonished me in this camp because I couldn’t even imagine how do you draw the strength to, to get yourself physically ready, to overcome what’s happened mentally.
“These people like Sina was there every day. Latz too, but Sina, every day, every second of every day.
“And you know, he had to return back to Dubai to the house where they all lived. Right?
“So it’s unbelievable strength. I’m just pleased to see him back. But obviously I just want to see him do the hard work justice on Saturday night with a good performance.”
