The British heavyweight fought for the first time after surviving a car accident in Nigeria in December, which killed his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele.
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In the first round, he was sensationally rocked by a powerful uppercut from K. Prenga, and AJ found himself on the canvas again later in the same round.
At that moment, it seemed the world was on the brink of one of the biggest sensations in heavyweight boxing history, and the long-awaited prospect of a fight with Tyson Fury hung in the balance, notes the BBC.
However, A. Joshua staged one of the greatest comebacks of his career – in the second round, he unleashed a right hand, and the final blow knocked the Albanian to the ground, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
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“It’s more than just punching power. It was spirit, it was Latz, it was Sina, it was family strength. Even talking about it hurts. It was tough,” said 36-year-old A. Joshua after the fight.
He got emotional and stepped away from the microphone, then added: “These are my brothers. I don’t want to talk about it.”
The next career stop is a fight with Tyson Fury. Contracts have already been signed, but the venue and date of the fight, awaited for over a decade, are still unknown.
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