British boxer ready for first fight since losing two of his closest friends, partly owing to unlikely brotherhood with Oleksandr Usyk
In air-conditioned isolation in the Arabian desert, former two-time unified heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua is not just preparing for another night under the floodlights. He has looked directly into the abyss and walked back out.
Seven months ago, on a treacherous stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Nigeria, the trajectory of Joshua’s life was irrevocably altered. Ten days after dispatching Jake Paul in Miami, the Lexus SUV transporting him and his innermost circle struck a stationary vehicle. Joshua escaped with minor physical injuries, but two of his closest confidants, strength coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Kevin Latif “Latz” Ayodele, lost their lives. The mental toll was catastrophic.
To observe Joshua in the build-up to this contest is to watch a man actively managing trauma. The gregarious, media-polished ambassador who once navigated press conferences with effortless PR sheen has given way to a leaner, remarkably sombre figure. “It’s tough, every time I think about it, it hurts,” Joshua has admitted, his voice dropping an octave as he has spoken candidly of the tragedy. “Even talking about it now… pictures… It hurts. But I keep my mind occupied. If I stop, you let it sink in – and I’m not ready for it to sink in yet.” These are striking admissions.
Boxers usually construct impenetrable armour before a fight, projecting invincibility. Joshua, instead, has offered a glimpse of an unhealed scar.
Channelling that grief into combat sports can be a volatile endeavour, yet those closest to him insist it has ignited a terrifying focus. The Matchroom Sport patriarch Barry Hearn described the current iteration of Joshua as a “ferocious animal” who looks in the shape of his life. There is no lingering hesitation in his movement, no physical weakness carried over from the horrific accident. Instead, there is a cold, ruthless efficiency, and a desire not just to win, but to inflict pain in order to honour the memory of those he lost.
Yet before any grand destiny can be realised, Joshua must clear the hurdle in front of him. Prenga (20-1, 20 stoppages) is not a household name, but the powerful 35-year-old former kickboxer turned heavyweight contender possesses the kind of single-shot power that demands total vigilance.
Prenga arrives in Saudi Arabia with nothing to lose and everything to gain. He knows Joshua is returning from a long lay-off fraught with emotional distress. Any slip in concentration, any fraction of a second where Joshua’s mind drifts back to that dark night in Lagos, could prove costly. Yet, listening to Joshua, it is clear there is little danger of complacency.
“I’m not overlooking Prenga,” Joshua asserted. “This is a big deal for me. God willing, everything works out. I have a job to do, and I understand the clarity required at this level.”
Casting his own long shadow over Saturday’s event in Jeddah is the elephant in the heavyweight room: Tyson Fury.
After years of convoluted negotiations, social media posturing, and promotional impasses, the stars have finally aligned for the biggest fight in British boxing history. With Fury having dispatched Arslanbek Makhmudov in April and scheduled to handle his own business against Mariusz Wach, the multi-fight deal framing “AJ vs Fury” is signed and sealed. The venue and date are yet to be confirmed and decided.
The stakes could not be higher. Turki Al-Sheikh and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season have bankrolled the structure, but Matchroom is pushing fiercely for the blockbuster contest to take place on home soil at Wembley Stadium. It is a fight a decade in the making, a battle for modern British legacy.
So for Joshua, the bout against Prenga is not merely a tune-up; it is almost a ritual of purgation. When he steps beneath the bright lights in Jeddah, he will be transformed.
Joshua is fighting for more than titles or purses now; he is fighting for closure, perhaps, for legacy, definitely, and for the friends whose spirits he carries with him into every exchange. If he dispatches Prenga with the ruthless efficiency promised by his camp, the long-awaited meet with Fury will no longer be a distant fantasy, but a certain date with history.