{"id":616195,"date":"2026-06-02T01:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/616195\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T01:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:20:10","slug":"anthony-joshua-puts-emotions-to-side-after-crash-as-he-prepares-for-boxing-return-anthony-joshua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/616195\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua puts \u2018emotions to side\u2019 after crash as he prepares for boxing return | Anthony Joshua"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Joshua has stressed that rather than coming to terms with his own grief after the car accident<\/a> in which two of his closest friends died last December, his primary focus has been on helping their parents. As he prepares to resume his career next month, Joshua said: \u201cI\u2019m just there for their parents. Number one is being a good soldier for them. Gotta look after the boys\u2019 parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he had felt compelled to bury his pain since he was injured in the accident in Nigeria which took the lives<\/a> of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, Joshua said: \u201cEveryone\u2019s different. Me, I have to put my emotions to the side because I focus on the parents. My emotions can come at a later stage. I really look at the parents and I understand it must be most difficult for them. So I don\u2019t make it about me, I make it about them. I make it about the mums and the dads of the two boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the first time that Joshua had spoken to the media since his devastating personal loss prompted questions as to whether he would wish to continue his boxing career. Ghami and Ayodele were members of his training camp for years and their absence continues to be felt even as the lucrative lure of finally fighting Tyson Fury<\/a> in November has encouraged Joshua to return to boxing. On 25 July, he will have a tune-up bout against the deeply obscure Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Prenga, who was at the media event in London on Monday, said of the accident that has cast such a shadow over Joshua\u2019s last few months: \u201cI feel sorry for him and his team but I think it\u2019s definitely going to affect him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony Joshua\u2019s last fight of consequence ended in a fifth-round knockout by Daniel Dubois. Photograph: Mark Robinson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Joshua seems to have been rejuvenated by working with Oleksandr Usyk, the world heavyweight champion who has beaten him<\/a> twice. \u201cWe\u2019ve had our time, we\u2019ve had our fights,\u201d Joshua said of his new friendship with the Ukrainian. \u201cSo there\u2019s a level of respect there and understanding that you just want to help each other. What I\u2019ve learned from him is surround yourself with people who are experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Praising the way in which Usyk has largely remained with the same team since he became an Olympic champion in 2012, Joshua highlighted their \u201ccollective strength. When he fights, he\u2019s fighting with his team.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also reflected on the way in which Usyk gained a psychological edge over Fury during the two fights<\/a> which the Ukrainian won on points. \u201cI know he read Fury\u2019s book,\u201d Joshua said. \u201cYou learn a lot about someone when you get to understand their psyche. I would definitely look at Fury\u2019s psyche [but] my true battle is in the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he plans to read Fury\u2019s autobiography, Joshua joked: \u201cYeah, I would. I\u2019ll get someone to nick it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was less amused when reminded Fury had highlighted the fact that Joshua\u2019s last meaningful fight, in September 2024, ended with him being knocked out by Daniel Dubois<\/a> inside five rounds. \u201cWe could all talk about what Usyk has done to [Fury],\u201d Joshua said. \u201cWe can talk about loads of comparisons, but for him to talk about Dubois\u2019s success and use it as his own shows me that he\u2019s a dick rider.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua has stressed that rather than coming to terms with his own grief after the car accident…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-616195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}