Anthony Joshua paid tribute to his late friends Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele after rising from the canvas twice to beat Kristian Prenga and stay on course for a Tyson Fury showdown.

The British heavyweight was fighting for the first time since being involved in a car crash in Nigeria that killed Ghami, his strength and conditioning coach, and Ayodele, his personal trainer, in December.

Joshua dedicated a fraught second-round knockout win in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Ghami and Ayodele on Saturday (July 25).

“It’s what champions do,” the 36-year-old said in the ring afterwards. “We rise, we get knocked down and we stand up and we keep going, that’s life, that’s life’s motto.

“It’s more than punch power, that was spirit, that was Latz, that was Sina, that was the families. It hurts even talking about it. It’s been tough. It’s my brothers but I don’t want to talk about it.”