Anthony Joshua not ready to move on from friends' deaths

British-Nigerian boxer Anthony Joshua says he is not yet ready for the loss of two close friends and members of his backroom team to sink in, as he prepares for his first fight since their deaths, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele died when the vehicle in which they were travelling with Joshua and a driver collided with a stationary truck on a major road near Lagos, Nigeria, on December 29, 2025.

Joshua, who sustained minor injuries in the crash, is set to return to the ring against Kristian Prenga on Saturday in his first contest since knocking out American boxer Jake Paul ten days before the accident.

“It is tough, every time I think about it, it hurts. Even talking about it now, pictures, it hurts, but I keep my mind occupied. If I stop, you let it sink in, and I am not ready for it to sink in yet,” Joshua told the BBC.

Ghami had served as Joshua’s full-time sport and exercise rehabilitation coach for more than ten years, while Ayodele, a personal trainer, was a long-time friend of the boxer.

Hours before the crash, Joshua had posted a video on Instagram of himself playing table tennis with Ayodele.

Saturday’s bout against Prenga will be Joshua’s first competitive outing since his knockout defeat to IBF world champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024, and the 36-year-old admitted to feeling slightly nervous ahead of his return.

“It is competition at the highest level. I want to perform for my team, I want to make them proud and make myself proud. It is a balance of nerves, but I understand what my job is. I have a lot of understanding and clarity on what I have to do,” he added.

A long-awaited fight between Joshua and fellow Briton Tyson Fury remains on course for later in the year, provided both men win their respective bouts this weekend.

Fury faces Poland’s Mariusz Wach in Pattaya, Thailand, on Friday, with the encounter regarded as his final assignment before a domestic showdown with Joshua.

A day later in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Joshua takes on Albania’s Prenga.

The gap between the two bouts could allow Fury to attend his rival’s fight, though Joshua, who declined Fury’s invitation to face off in the ring following his win over Arslanbek Makhmudov in April, said a face-off between the pair might not be far off.

“I am not overlooking Prenga. This is a big deal for me, this fight. God willing, everything works out. If it is not Saturday night where we face off, it will be within the next four to six weeks,” Joshua said.

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