Eddie Hearn believes that supporting the families of friends lost in a car crash last December has given Anthony Joshua added motivation for his comeback. Joshua will face Albanian Kristian Prenga in Jeddah on July 25, his first fight since the accident that killed two members of his training team.
Joshua's Emotional Return
The two-time heavyweight champion took an extended break after the deaths of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, childhood friends, raising doubts about his return. Joshua has vowed to be "stronger than ever" against Prenga, with a potential showdown with Tyson Fury later this year. Hearn believes Joshua can use the loss as fuel.
"They're billing this fight as the comeback – he only fought six months ago, but this is one of the greatest comebacks, because of where he was physically, mentally, emotionally," Hearn told Sky Sports. "He stepped up to the plate and never shied away from it."
Training with Vengeance
Hearn added: "He comes back with so much vengeance and emotion because he does it for Sina and 'Latz'. The strength and support he's given to the family is absolute priority. Every day he's training harder than you can imagine to achieve his dreams. We need to celebrate great individuals, great athletes, but also people with a never-say-die attitude, like Anthony. He's got all the money in the world, he's a two-time world champion, yet he's in Spain, away from everybody, training three times a day till he can't anymore. He wants it more now than ever before."
Joshua's Selfless Focus
Joshua said in Monday's press conference he is putting aside his own emotions to be "a good soldier" for the grieving parents. Hearn confirmed that helping others remains Joshua's primary concern. "There is no doubt those two great men would have wanted AJ to come back even stronger through this. AJ's top priority is to protect and support those people, probably over the fight itself. Even when the accident happened, the only thing on his mind was to be there for others."
Hearn highlighted the physical pain Joshua endured: "What people didn't see was not just the emotional and mental pain, but the physical pain from that accident. Only two or three weeks after, he was back in rehab. He wants it more now than when he had nothing – before Olympic championships, before World Championship silvers, when he was just in Finchley dreaming of bettering his life. He wants it more now when he's got everything. That tells you he's a true competitor. Now he's got to go in there and brutalise Prenga on July 25. We've got to go into that Fury fight with momentum, aggression, and volatility to do a job on Tyson Fury."
