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.

Having worn a camouflage top and trunks to the ring with the names of the pair across his chest, Joshua dedicated a fraught second-round knockout win in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Ghami and Ayodele.

“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.”

Joshua was a prohibitive 1/33 favourite with bookmakers immediately before the fight against the Albanian, whose 20 wins from 21 contests had all been via knockout although against limited opposition.

However, Joshua was sent tumbling to the canvas within the first 20 seconds of the bout and again later on in the first round, leaving not just the Fury fight but his entire boxing career in the balance.

But Joshua hit back in a chaotic fight as Prenga failed to capitalise on his explosive fight, allowing his more experienced opponent to close the show in devastating fashion.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said: “No-one can imagine what he’s been through in these last seven months. In fact, during that first round I was thinking ‘we came back too soon.’

“I said in the build-up to this fight that boxing once saved him and he needed boxing to help him get through this and his camp allowed him to focus his mind while he was facing so much grief and pain.

“You don’t know what he was going through in that camp because he’s a strong man and he likes to deal with his problems on his own. I’m not saying that’s the right way to do it but that’s his way to do it.

“To even be in the ring was astonishing and when you go down a couple of times in the first round, and you’re looking like your career might be over, he had to go to the depths to get up and fight on.”

Hearn confirmed contracts for a long-awaited and much-hyped all-British blockbuster between Joshua and Fury have been signed although a date and location are still unknown.

Fury had a more serene warm-up on Friday in Thailand, stopping 46-year-old Mariusz Wach after seven rounds, but declined the opportunity to watch Joshua from ringside in order to fly home to the Isle of Man.

Joshua added: “Wait a minute, have we got Tyson Fury in the room? To more important matters, is he here or not?

“All jokes aside, there are two sides to this thing. One is the fighter, you have to have that vim, and the other is respect.

“I respect everything he has done and everything that he has achieved, but as a fighting person and someone who has been calling for this fight for a long time, we’re here now.

“I hope the fans will be in for a lovely treat.

“Do you know what I learned? I can’t be stopped, I’m not going to be stopped, I’m not going to be denied. We’re coming, trust me.”