British Nigerian heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua returns to competitive action on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, taking on Albanian fighter Kristian Prenga in his first bout since a devastating car crash in Nigeria claimed the lives of two of his closest friends and longtime members of his team.

The contest, scheduled for the forty thousand seat Jeddah Superdome, marks Joshua’s first appearance in the ring since he stopped American boxer turned social media personality Jake Paul in Miami, a win that came just ten days before the fatal accident, and his first competitive fight since he suffered a knockout defeat to IBF world champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024.

The thirty six year old was travelling in a vehicle with his rehabilitation coach of more than a decade, Sina Ghami, and his personal trainer and close friend Latif Ayodele, when the car collided with a stationary truck on a major highway near Lagos on December 29 last year. Both men died in the crash, while Joshua escaped with relatively minor injuries.

The Jeddah Superdome previously played host to Joshua’s 2022 rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, a bout billed as Rage on the Red Sea in which the Ukrainian retained his unified heavyweight titles on a split decision.

Ahead of Saturday’s fight, Joshua struck a notably calmer tone than in previous fight weeks, telling reporters at a press conference in Jeddah that he has been working hard since January to get his preparations aligned and that his focus remains firmly on the task at hand.

He has also spoken candidly about the emotional toll of losing two men who were central figures in both his career and personal life, admitting that he has deliberately kept himself occupied rather than allow the weight of the grief to fully sink in.

The boxer told reporters that thinking about the tragedy still hurts deeply, even now, but that he has chosen to push through by keeping his mind busy rather than confronting the loss head on for the time being. He struck a reflective note when discussing how the experience has shaped his outlook, saying that while it has not changed who he fundamentally is, it has given him a markedly different perspective on life.

Saturday’s contest against Prenga is widely viewed as a tune up fight ahead of a potential blockbuster showdown with fellow British heavyweight Tyson Fury, who is himself set to return to the ring a day earlier in Thailand against Poland’s Mariusz Wach. Fury has previously said the tragedy involving Joshua’s friends played a part in prompting his own comeback to the sport, and speculation continues to build over a long awaited meeting between the two rivals later this year should both men come through their respective weekend assignments unscathed.

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