Anthony Joshua emerged from the darkness of personal loss into the floodlight of his comeback with a smile on his face, prayers in his heart, love in his soul and his mind set on the dream of becoming world heavyweight champion again before long.
The new AJ reappeared in London as the old Joshua we knew before his titles were spirited from him by Oleksandr The Great Usyk and he was crushed by Daniel Dubois.
Spirit refreshed. Hope reborn. Ambition reignited. Back where he belongs in the blazing crucible of the hardest game. Ready to fight a huge Albanian called Christian Prenga who has knocked out 20 of his 21 rivals since he took his fists to America.
That will happen in Saudi Arabia on July 25. Before that, Joshua will return to training under the watchful eye of Usyk, now the friend painfully acquired through two meetings in the ring.
‘Yes I’m back,’ said Joshua. ‘Back to the place where I always find my purpose. Where I’m content.’
Poignantly he adds; ‘Boxing is therapeutic for me.’
Anthony Joshua goes head to head with Kristian Prenga ahead of their fight in July
He says that secure in the knowledge that he is doing all he can to comfort and support the families of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, the two closest friends in his camp who died in a car crash in Nigeria which he miraculously survived.
‘Their parents have been my priority, ‘ says AJ. ‘I’m doing everything I can for them and keeping them close.’
There’s the love.
Usyk is a devout Catholic and Joshua says: ‘ I don’t follow a particular faith but Alex has shown me the power of prayer. I’ve also learned from the finest boxer of our generation the collective power of keeping every last one of a boxer’s team permanently locked into a productive collective. Not just coming and going to do their individual bit.’
Maturity accompanies AJ on this return journey which begins with the warm-up in Jeddah and continues with that long-awaited mega fight with the Gypsy King in the autumn.
‘And after I deal with Tyson Fury,’ he grins, ‘on to world titles. I accept this will be a tough year and I’m coming up 37 in October but I feel have the strength in every aspect to keep fighting until I’m 40. Boxing’s what I do.’
