After his serious car accident, boxer Anthony Joshua celebrates a successful comeback in the ring.
Former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua has made a successful comeback in the ring. The 36-year-old Briton weathered two early knockdowns and won his fight against Albanian Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by knockout in the second round.
It was Joshua’s first step in his renewed attempt to return to the world’s elite. The “Battle of Britain” against former world champion Tyson Fury is expected to take place in November.
For Joshua, it was his first fight since a tragic car accident in Nigeria in December 2025. Two of his friends and members of his staff, Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele, lost their lives in the crash. Joshua himself survived the crash—which occurred one week after his controversial bout against YouTuber Jake Paul—without life-threatening injuries.
Boxing Is Joshua’s Calling
Before the fight against Pranga, he had stated that boxing was his calling: He wanted to take care of the families of his friends who were killed, whose names were written on the ring floor.
Joshua had lost his last world title fight in September 2024 at Wembley against then-IBF champion Daniel Dubois. Against the 35-year-old Pranga, he went down after just 20 seconds and again toward the end of the first round.
After that, the former world champion recovered and ended the fight at 2:43 in the second round. Joshua said afterward that it was more than just his punching power that made the difference: “That was spirit—that was Latz and Sina. It even hurts just to talk about it. They’re my brothers.”
