Anthony Joshua gave a touching speech on Sunday, as he spent Mother’s Day with the mothers of his late friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele.
In December, Ghami and Ayodele were killed in a car crash in Nigeria, in which Joshua was injured just 10 days after boxing influencer Jake Paul.
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Ghami had worked as Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach for the majority of his professional career, while Ayodele had been the former heavyweight champion’s personal trainer for just as long.
Former two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (Getty Images)
The accident in Nigeria left “AJ”’s boxing future up in the air, but he has since returned to the gym while his promoter Eddie Hearn continues to talk up a summer fight.
Still, Joshua took time to be with Ghami and Ayodele’s mothers on Sunday, organising an event for them and his own family.
Joshua said everyone was present “to come under one roof and celebrate our mothers, celebrate our brothers, celebrate those who are not with us, celebrate those that are with us.
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“And knowing that all of our fate will one day come. We just stay strong until that day. We pray for our transition and just to be great in the afterlife. Why I talk about that is because my heart is for my bros right now, do you know what I mean?
“So, thank you again. Why we’ve done this is obviously for my mum and our family, but also Sina and Latz’s mum. It’s all interconnected, and I’m not making too much sense, but I’m just speaking from my heart basically.
“So thank you, mums, for giving me Latz and Sina for so many years, looking over me. I appreciate it a lot. Thank you very much.”
December’s crash took place on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, 10 days after Joshua stopped Paul in six rounds.
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The fight in Miami was Joshua’s first since September 2024, when he had suffered a brutal knockout loss to compatriot Daniel Dubois.
Joshua pictured with Sina Ghami (left) and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele (Instagram)
As Joshua’s bout with Paul approached, talk turned to the Briton’s plans for 2026, which looked set to include a fight against kickboxing icon Rico Verhoeven and a long-awaited clash with Tyson Fury.
However, December’s accident drastically altered those plans. Verhoeven will now challenge Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title on 23 May, fighting at the pyramids of Giza, after Fury faces Arslanbek Makhmudov in Tottenham on 11 April.
Joshua vs Fury still looks to be possible, but it is likely that AJ will box another opponent before then.
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