EDDIE HEARN has been blown away by Anthony Joshua’s courage to return to boxing without his late friends.
In December, AJ was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria but miraculously survived with just bruised ribs.
Eddie Hearn with Anthony Joshua Credit: Getty
Latif Ayodele, Joshua and Sina Ghami Credit: INSTAGRAM@TYSONFURY
But tragically, childhood friend Latif “Latz” Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami passed away – leaving behind a gaping hole in Joshua’s camp.
The motorway smash came just ten days after AJ beat YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, 29, in their Miami fight.
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And just eight months later, AJ is back in the ring to face 20-1 Albanian Kristian Prenga, 35, in Jeddah.
Joshua has had to prepare for the bout – a tune-up for his November Tyson Fury fight – without two of his most key camp members.
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And promoter Hearn opened up on just how painful – mentally and physically – the road to returning has been for Britain’s heavyweight golden boy.
He told JattvibeSport: “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.
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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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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“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.”
Joshua, 36, and Fury, 37, have already signed their contracts for the biggest bout in British history.
The Gypsy King did his part by dancing around 46-year-old Polish punchbag Mariusz Wach in Thailand.
And AJ has to do the same to Prenga – to ensure he finally gets his hands on his arch rival.
Hearn added: “He’d never come out and say, ‘I want to knock this geezer out so bad.’
“I know trust me, I know how much he wants to knock this geezer out so bad. I think the build up will be really interesting.
“Because he’s not the kind of guy that’s going to sit there and scream and roll around in press conferences.
“But Fury is going to press his buttons. And, but I just feel like now he’s, he’s a little bit, he’s better equipped to deal with that than he might have been seven or eight years ago.
“He’s been through a lot. And I don’t think, through everything that he’s been through, I don’t think Tyson Fury talking s*** at a press conference is really going to faze him mentally, to be honest with you.”
