Anthony Joshua paid tribute to late friends Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele after a comeback win over Kristian Prenga, following a huge first-round scare.

The Englishman was back in action on Saturday night and avoided a huge first-round upset, as he had to rise from the canvas twice in three minutes before going on to knock out Prenga in the second round.

It was Joshua’s first fight since being involved in a tragic car accident in Nigeria, which claimed the lives of two of his close friends and training team, Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele.

Joshua escaped death when the car he was travelling in crashed into a truck on a Nigerian motorway back in December, but he made an inspirational recovery and was soon back in action as he looked to make his all-British showdown with Tyson Fury official.

Joshua was a 1/33 favourite with bookmakers before the fight against the Albanian, but was shockingly sent tumbling to the canvas within the first 20 seconds of the bout from a vicious uppercut, and again later on in the first round, leaving the Fury fight and his entire boxing career in the balance.

Joshua hit back in a chaotic fight as Prenga failed to capitalise on his explosive start, allowing his more experienced opponent to close the show devastatingly.

The Englishman emotionally dedicated his win to his late team members, saying: ‘It’s what champions do. We rise, we get knocked down, and we stand up, and we keep going; that’s life, that’s life’s motto.

‘It’s more than punch power. That was spirit, that was Latz, that was Sina, that was the families. It hurts to even talk about it. It has been tough. It’s my brothers. I don’t want to talk about it.’

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said: ‘No one can imagine what he’s been through in these last seven months. In fact, during that first round, I was thinking “we came back too soon”.

‘I said in the build-up to this fight that boxing once saved him, and he needed boxing to help him get through this, and his camp allowed him to focus his mind while he was facing so much grief and pain.

‘You don’t know what he was going through in that camp because he’s a strong man and he likes to deal with his problems on his own. I’m not saying that’s the right way to do it, but that’s his way to do it.

‘To even be in the ring was astonishing, and when you go down a couple of times in the first round, and you’re looking like your career might be over, he had to go to the depths to get up and fight on.’

Speaking on a long-awaited fight with Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua added: ‘Wait a minute, have we got Tyson Fury in the room? To more important matters, is he here or not?

‘All jokes aside, there are two sides to this thing. One is the fighter; you have to have that vim, and the other is respect. I respect everything he [Tyson Fury] has done and everything that he has achieved, but as a fighting person and someone who has been calling for this fight for a long time, we’re here now.

‘I hope the fans will be in for a lovely treat. Do you know what I learned? I can’t be stopped, I’m not going to be stopped, I’m not going to be denied. We’re coming, trust me.’

Anthony Joshua was emotional in the ring after winning his return fight:

“That was spirit, that was Latz, that was Sina, that was the families. That hurts even talking about it… It’s been tough. It’s my brothers. But I don’t want to talk about it.” 💔pic.twitter.com/ke7pUD3p72 https://t.co/8LHQRbQy4U

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 25, 2026