The ink is dry: Anthony Joshua will fight his first fight since his devastating traffic accident on July 25th in Saudi Arabia. The former boxing world champion’s opponent in Riyadh is the Albanian underdog Kristian Prenga.
The heavyweight fight is being promoted on social media channels as “The Comeback”.
Last December, two of Joshua’s friends died in a tragic traffic accident. One of the dead was his personal trainer, the other was another supervisor.
Joshua himself survived the accident in Nigeria with minor injuries and was released from hospital after a short period of treatment.
The former conqueror of Wladimir Klitschko had won a one-sided show fight against YouTube star Jake Paul shortly before the crash.
Joshua recently indicated in an interview that he still had to “clarify some things” after the death of his friends. “I had a serious accident. There are serious things in my life. I don’t avoid anyone. As soon as I’m back to 100 percent, I’ll fight,” announced the Brit.
Tyson Fury has to be patient
The background is primarily the constant advertising of ex-champion Tyson Fury, who celebrated a lackluster comeback victory against the Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov around two weeks ago after an impressive 476 days of absence from the ring.
The former heavyweight world champion said afterwards in the presence of ring guest Joshua: “I want to give you the fight you are all waiting for. I challenge you, Anthony Joshua.” Now Fury will have to be patient.
Video: Fury and Joshua exchange words at the ring
Boxing fans have been dreaming of the “Battle of Britain” for a decade. The fight repeatedly failed due to financial disputes. Although Fury and Joshua are past their best, the duel is still the biggest fight that can currently be made.
Joshua’s career has stalled in recent years after he lost his world championship belts to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021. Although he was also defeated by the Ukrainian in the rematch the following year, he missed another chance for the title in 2024 with a crushing knockout defeat against Daniel Dubois.
