When two men who had spent years shaping Anthony Joshua's body and spirit were killed in a road collision outside Lagos last December, the heavyweight boxer walked away physically intact but carrying a loss he has not yet allowed himself to fully feel. This Saturday in Jeddah, Joshua returns to the ring against Kristian Prenga — not as an escape from grief, but as a way of remaining in motion while grief waits. It is an old human bargain: keep moving, keep working, keep the machinery running, because stillness is where the unbearable lives.
Joshua Grapples With Grief as He Returns to Ring This Weekend
Two of Joshua's close team members—Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele—died in a vehicle collision in Nigeria on December 29, 2025.
If I stop, you let it sink in and I'm not ready for it to sink in yet
Mark
How does someone fight when they're carrying that kind of loss?
Mimi
You don't stop moving. Joshua said it plainly—if he stops, it sinks in. The ring becomes a place where you can still function, where the body knows what to do even when the mind is fractured.
Mark
But doesn't that delay the grief? Doesn't it just push it down?
Mimi
Almost certainly. But there's also something about the structure of professional sport that allows you to compartmentalize. You have a job. You have an opponent. You have a team counting on you. Those things are real and immediate in a way that grief isn't—grief is abstract until you're alone.
Mark
He mentioned Ghami worked with him for over a decade. That's not just a coach.
Mimi
No. That's someone who was woven into the fabric of his daily life. Someone who understood his body, his patterns, his vulnerabilities. Losing that kind of person while also losing a friend—it's a double loss. The professional relationship and the personal one collapse into the same wound.
Mark
What about the Fury fight? Is that a distraction or a goal?
Mimi
Both, probably. It's a legitimate sporting objective—the kind of fight that defines a career. But it's also something to reach toward, a reason to keep winning, to keep moving forward. It gives the next few months a shape and a purpose beyond just processing what happened.
Mark
Do you think he'll be ready by Saturday?
Mimi
Ready to fight? Probably. His body will know what to do. Ready to process what happened? No. And he knows that. He's honest about it. That's the only thing he can be right now.
The Pulse
- Two of Joshua's closest team members — rehabilitation coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Latif Ayodele — died in a vehicle collision in Nigeria on December 29, 2025, just hours after Joshua had posted a lighthearted video with Ayodele on Instagram.
- Joshua survived with minor injuries, but the emotional wound remains deliberately unprocessed — 'I'm not ready for it to sink in yet,' he told BBC Sport, describing grief held at arm's length by constant motion.
- After nearly two years away from professional competition, including a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley, Joshua faces the added pressure of rust, nerves, and the weight of performing for a team that is no longer whole.
- A potential 'Battle of Britain' showdown with Tyson Fury looms within four to six weeks if both men win this weekend, raising the stakes of Saturday's bout far beyond the opponent in front of him.
- Joshua frames his return in the starkest terms — 'I can be the coward or the hero and I have to decide what I want to be' — suggesting this fight is as much an internal reckoning as a sporting contest.
When two men who had spent years shaping Anthony Joshua's body and spirit were killed in a road collision outside Lagos last December, the heavyweight boxer walked away physically intact but carrying a loss he has not yet allowed himself to fully feel. This Saturday in Jeddah, Joshua returns to the ring against Kristian Prenga — not as an escape from grief, but as a way of remaining in motion while grief waits. It is an old human bargain: keep moving, keep working, keep the machinery running, because stillness is where the unbearable lives.
On December 29th, a vehicle carrying Anthony Joshua struck a stationary truck on a road outside Lagos, Nigeria. Joshua escaped with minor injuries. Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele did not. Ghami had spent more than a decade as Joshua's rehabilitation and exercise coach. Ayodele was his personal trainer and close friend — so close that just hours before the crash, Joshua had posted a video of the two of them playing table tennis together. Now both are gone, and this Saturday in Jeddah, Joshua fights again.
The 36-year-old has not allowed himself to fully absorb the loss. 'Every time I think about it, it hurts,' he told BBC Sport. 'I'm not ready for it to sink in yet.' It is the language of someone who understands that stillness will undo him — so he keeps moving. His opponent is heavyweight Kristian Prenga, his first professional bout since a knockout loss to IBF champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September 2024.
Joshua admits to nerves. Nearly two years have passed since he last competed professionally, and the ring demands a clarity that grief does not easily permit. 'I want to perform for my team, I want to make them proud,' he said — a sentence that carries more meaning than it might otherwise, given who is no longer there to watch.
Beyond Prenga, a larger fight waits. If Joshua wins Saturday and Tyson Fury defeats Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday, a 'Battle of Britain' between the two heavyweights could take shape within four to six weeks. Joshua is not overlooking his immediate opponent, but he is thinking about legacy. 'The stars are aligned and I have to make sure I'm on course,' he said. 'I can be the coward or the hero and I have to decide what I want to be.'
The paradox he is living is a familiar human one: the need to press forward while carrying something that cannot yet be set down. The fight becomes a way of not stopping — of keeping the machinery running while the real work of grief waits in the quiet moments he is not yet ready to have.
Anthony Joshua is stepping back into the ring this weekend carrying a weight that has nothing to do with his opponent. On December 29th, a vehicle carrying the heavyweight boxer collided with a stationary truck on a road outside Lagos, Nigeria. Joshua walked away with minor injuries. Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele did not.
Ghami had been Joshua's rehabilitation and exercise coach for more than a decade—a fixture in his corner, embedded in the daily work of keeping a professional athlete's body functional. Ayodele was his personal trainer, a long-time friend whose presence in Joshua's life was casual enough that just hours before the crash, the boxer had posted a video to Instagram of the two of them playing table tennis together. Now both are gone, and Joshua is preparing to fight.
The 36-year-old has not had time to let the loss settle. "It's tough, every time I think about it, it hurts," he 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." This is the language of someone in motion, someone who understands that stillness will crack him open. His first competitive bout since knocking out Jake Paul ten days before the crash comes Saturday against heavyweight Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Joshua admits to feeling nervous. It has been nearly two years since his last professional fight—a knockout loss to IBF world champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024. The ring is a place where clarity matters, where the body must do what the mind commands. "It's competition at the highest level," he said. "I want to perform for my team, I want to make them proud and make myself proud. It's a balance of nerves but I understand what my job is."
But there is something larger than Prenga on the horizon. A fight between Joshua and fellow Briton Tyson Fury—the so-called Battle of Britain—is expected to materialize later this year if both men win their upcoming bouts. Fury, 46, faces Poland's Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday night, the evening before Joshua's fight in Saudi Arabia. The timing is tight enough that Fury could theoretically attend Joshua's bout. Joshua declined Fury's invitation to face off after Fury's April victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov, but he is not ruling it out now. "If it's not Saturday night where we face-off, it will be within the next four to six weeks," Joshua said.
He is not overlooking Prenga—he insists on this point. But he is also thinking about legacy, about what it means to win now, to keep winning, to position himself for the kind of fight that leaves a mark on the sport. "It's a big mark to leave on the sport. If I win on Saturday and I could win later in the year, it's massive," he said. "The stars are aligned and I have to make sure that I'm on course. It's going to be challenging but I can be the coward or the hero and I have to decide what I want to be."
This is the paradox Joshua is living: the need to move forward while carrying something immovable. He will step through the ropes on Saturday with the names of two men he loved still fresh, still unprocessed, still too heavy to fully acknowledge. The fight itself becomes a way of not stopping, a way of keeping the machinery running while the real work of grief waits in the quiet moments he is not yet ready to have.
Notable Quotes
It's tough, every time I think about it, it hurts. If I stop, you let it sink in and I'm not ready for it to sink in yet.— Anthony Joshua to BBC Sport
I can be the coward or the hero and I have to decide what I want to be.— Anthony Joshua on his path forward
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