Anthony Joshua’s late friends are paid beautiful tribute in the ring ahead of AJ’s comeback fight v Kristian Prenga

ANTHONY JOSHUA’S late friends were beautifully paid tribute in the ring ahead of his comeback fight against Kristian Prenga. AJ miraculously survived a fatal motorway crash in December – just ten days after beating YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. Anthony Joshua’s late friends were beautifully paid tribute in the ring Credit: http://www.instagram.com/matchroomboxing/?hl=en The late Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele, left, with Joshua and Sina Ghami Credit: Instagram / @sina_evolve Joshua escaped with just bruised ribs but tragically childhood pal Latif “Latz” Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami were killed. And despite a period of painful mourning and rehabbing – heavyweight hero AJ is back in the ring just eight months later. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! He will carry his fallen brothers’ spirits into the ring with him – and they will be in Joshua’s corner with him. Their names with the message “My Brother’s Keeper” were printed in the ring by Joshua’s corner. The brave two-time heavyweight champion – who has a super-fight with Tyson Fury already signed – opened up on his loss ahead of his return. He said: “I’m not going to make it about me, because someone somewhere has just lost their mum or just lost their dad, so you have to keep it together. “It is hard, but if you let it get to you, it’ll ruin you. You know what I mean? It’s tough but so many people are going through the same situation. “You just have to humble yourself and not make it all about you. The whole world unfortunately doesn’t stop for my situation. Most read in Sport Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga - all the info Anthony Joshua faces Kristian Prenga in his huge comeback fight “So I’ve just got to kind of keep myself together. Because, if I was to let it get to me, I’d probably end up going crazy. Following a touching pause, he added: “It just hurts – a lot. But you’ve just got to hold it together, basically, if I’m honest.” Victory for Joshua, 36, will see him finally face Fury, 37, in a long overdue grudge match eyed for November. Promoter Eddie Hearn is at the centre of the talks but gushed over AJ’s courage shown on route to his comeback. He said: “I felt that once he got in camp, he’d be okay. Right? Because it’s the focus, it’s the drive, it’s the purpose. “And I do think, whether he admits it or not, there is a lot of fighting with those two on his shoulders going into this fight. “I think he’s used that as inspiration as well. “But what you didn’t see is when he’s trying to get out of bed and he can’t move, and then he’s sitting on a bike for two hours where he can’t move his torso but he can move his legs. “And that was two or three months of doing that. And that was when he was down. “Because he couldn’t box, he couldn’t go into training camp, it was just rehab, rehab, bike, stretching, scans, physio. “All of that was the most difficult time. When he got into camp, that was great. So all of those boxes that he had to tick to get there. “But the real truth is, when the head hits the pillow at night, you never really know what anyone’s thinking or what they’re going through. “So you can show all this strength, you can train three times a day, but in those moments on your own, when you might be replaying the day… I mean I can’t even imagine. “I mean it has astonished me in this camp because I couldn’t even imagine how do you draw the strength to, to get yourself physically ready, to overcome what’s happened mentally. “These people like Sina was there every day. Latz too, but Sina, every day, every second of every day. “And you know, he had to return back to Dubai to the house where they all lived. Right? “So it’s unbelievable strength. I’m just pleased to see him back. But obviously I just want to see him do the hard work justice on Saturday night with a good performance.” Comment now