Anthony Joshua makes poignant tribute to late friends ahead of Kristian Prenga showdown

Anthony Joshua is set to pay tribute to his late friends when he faces Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, later this evening (July 25), as an alteration has been made to the canvas of the ring.

Following Tyson Fury’s victory over Mariusz Wach in a low-key, non-televised bout in Thailand on Friday (July 24), Joshua will be hoping to avoid an unlikely slip-up when he takes on Albania’s Prenga in what has been billed as a warm-up for an all-British showdown with Fury later this year.

The Prenga fight will be AJ’s first since he was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria, which claimed the lives of his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele in December 2025.

As well as being childhood friends of Joshua, they formed part of his team, with Ayodele working as the boxer’s personal trainer and Ghami as his rehabilitation coach.

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Joshua not ready to let death of friends 'sink in yet'

During fight week, Joshua, who sustained bruising to his ribs during the tragic accident, admitted that he was not ready to allow the deaths of his close friends to “sink in yet”, explaining that “it’s tough” every time he thinks of them.

“It hurts,” Joshua told BBC Sport.

"Even talking about it now... pictures… it hurts but I keep my mind occupied you know.

"If I stop, you let it sink in and I'm not ready for it to sink in yet."

In a separate interview with The Sun, the Watford-born heavyweight explained how he now looks at life in a different way.

Joshua said: “Has it changed me? My core self is strong, so to change my core self, no. But I definitely look at things a lot differently.

"Fate is something you can never predict. You just don't know. Just like that, things can change."

He added: “Look at it this way ... I'm not going to make it about me because someone's just lost their mum, someone's just lost their dad, so you have to keep it together. It is hard but if you let it get to you, it will ruin you.

"What I mean by that is, so many people are going through the same situation and you've just got to humble yourself and not make it all about you. The whole world, unfortunately, doesn't stop for my situation.

"I've just got to keep myself together. If I was to let it get to me I would end up going crazy. It hurts a lot, but you've just got to hold it together."

On fight day, Matchroom Boxing posted a photograph of the ring showing a touching tribute to Joshua’s late friends, with the words “Latz x Sina. My Brother’s Keeper. M.B.K.” printed near where Joshua will sit between rounds.

A win over Prenga would see Joshua’s professional record improve to 34-4.