Anthony Joshua posts sparring footage as preparations ramp up for comeback fight

Anthony Joshua is back sparring again for the first time since his involvement in a fatal car accident that killed two of his teammates.

Joshua’s personal trainer, Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele, and strength and conditioning coach, Sina Ghami, tragically passed away in December when the SUV they were travelling in crashed into a stationary truck on a highway in Nigeria.

Joshua sustained minor injuries, but the significant toll of losing two close friends led to a hiatus from the gym and a period of mourning for the two-time world heavyweight champion.

The crash, which happened just outside Nigerian capital Lagos, left Joshua’s future up in the air.

However, he has since confirmed his intentions to continue competing.

Earlier this month, Joshua returned to his first-ever boxing gym, Finchley ABC, to whip himself up in fighting shape.

And during a recent training session, he blew off the cobwebs to bank a few rounds of light technical sparring.

Joshua uploaded the footage onto his Snapchat story.

While there isn’t too much to glean from the clips, it does increase the likelihood of Eddie Hearn‘s cryptic AJ update being an imminent fight announcement.

Taking to his Instagram story on Thursday, Hearn teased news around Joshua by uploading a photo of the pair walking to the ring together with the caption: “Loading.”

It comes after Hearn revealed that there are tentative plans in place for his long-time client to return to the ring in July.

Anthony Joshua’s next steps

“Originally, the plan with AJ was for him to fight in March and then fight Tyson Fury in August,” Hearn told BoxingScene last month.

“That’s not happening. He’s not fighting Tyson Fury next.

“He’s going to come back, I believe, in late summer, but physically he’s not yet in a position to return to camp.

“So, I’m planning, but he’s just resting and preparing.

“So, for me, I’m looking at options to get him back in the ring in July time.

“But we’ll only know if that’s a real possibility when he returns to camp, which will hopefully be in the next couple of weeks or a month.”

Joshua hasn’t set foot in the ring since knocking out Jake Paul in December.

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Kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven was being lined up as his opponent in early 2026 before the accident in Nigeria.

Now, Verhoeven is facing Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title on May 23.

Boxing schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s  boxing schedule.