Anthony Joshua becomes emotional as he dedicates his win to late friends Sina and Latz

Anthony Joshua became emotional when talking about his two late friends following his second-round knock out of Kristian Prenga.

Joshua had his eagerly-anticipated comeback fight tonight in Saudi Arabia.

Despite being the clear favourite heading into the ring, it wasn’t a good start for Joshua, who was knocked down within the first 30 seconds, drawing shocked gasps from the crowd.

There were concerns that Joshua was having some issue with his leg and he was knocked down again in the first round.

However, it was a very different story in the second round.

Joshua landed a punch on Prenga that sent him sprawling to the canvas and won him the bout with a knockout victory.

The comeback was made all the more poignant following the tragic deaths of Joshua’s friends last year.

Joshua's strength coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Latif Ayodele died on 29 December, 2025, when a car they were all travelling in crashed into a stationary truck on an expressway near Lagos, Nigeria.

The right-hand side of the car, where Ghami and Ayodele were sat in the front and rear passenger seats, was destroyed, but the left was relatively untouched.

The driver and Joshua both walked away from the crash, with the boxer injuring his ribs and spending two days in hospital.

Speaking on Wednesday, Joshua said he was still struggling to come to terms with the deaths.

“It’s tough, every time I think about it, it hurts,” Joshua told the BBC.

“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.”

Following his win tonight, Joshua said: "It’s what champions do. We rise, we get knocked down and we stand up and we keep going, that’s life’s motto.

"That was spirit. That was Sina and Latz. That was the families. That was… it hurts even talking about it.”

When asked how difficult things had been for him, Joshua admitted it had ‘been tough’ before seemingly becoming too emotional to speak and putting his head down.

The host then suggested that Joshua being able to get back up and continue fighting after being knocked down was down to his ‘fighting spirit and a bit of Latz and Sina fighting spirit’.

Joshua nodded his head before adding: “It’s my brothers. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Joshua also thanked fans for their support and Penga and his team for ‘putting up a good fight’.

Jake Paul, who found Joshua last year, congratulated him on his win, writing on X: "Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through. Remembering Sina and Latz with this one."

Joshua’s win tonight alongside Fury’s win yesterday, will pave the way for a long-awaited clash between the two British boxers.

Fury’s win over 46-year-old Mariusz Wach around 4,000 miles away in Thailand on Friday laid down the gauntlet for Joshua.

Speaking in the ring tonight, Eddie Hearn said the fight between the heavyweights was 'signed', with reports suggesting it could take place as soon as November.