Anthony Joshua said he is putting his own grief to one side as he prepares to return to the ring, telling reporters he is focusing instead on the parents of the two friends killed in a car accident last December. The former heavyweight champion will face Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on 25 July, a comeback that comes less than a year after the crash that injured Joshua and killed Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele in Nigeria.
Joshua spoke to the media for the first time since the accident on Monday and framed his return as a responsibility as much as a fight. “I’m just there for their parents,” he said, adding that being a “good soldier” means looking after the boys’ parents first and leaving his emotions for later. He said he understands how difficult the loss must be for the mothers and fathers, and that he does not want to make the tragedy about himself.
The timing matters because Joshua is moving back toward full activity next month, with the Prenga bout serving as a tune-up for a possible Tyson Fury fight in November. That makes the London media event on Monday more than a ceremonial appearance: it was Joshua’s first public accounting of how he is dealing with the accident while trying to keep a career-defining schedule intact. Ghami and Ayodele were part of his training camp for years, which gives the loss a place inside the camp as well as in his private life.
Prenga, who was at the event in London, did not hide the force of the moment. “I feel sorry for him and his team but I think it’s definitely going to affect him,” he said, setting up the sharpest edge in Joshua’s return: the fighter insists he can set his emotions aside, while his opponent believes the weight of the crash will follow him into the ring. Joshua has worked with Oleksandr Usyk as he rebuilds, saying he has learned to surround himself with experienced people, and he described his true battle as being inside the ropes rather than in Fury’s head.
That makes 25 July the first real test of whether Joshua can box through a year marked by loss, recovery and unfinished business. He is not just returning to resume his career; he is trying to do it while carrying the responsibility of two bereaved families, with the bigger prize of November still hanging over everything.
