Anthony Joshua has returned to the gym, sharing a measured but unmistakable sign of progress as he recovers from a car crash in Nigeria that killed two close friends and longtime members of his team. The former world heavyweight champion posted a video on Snapchat showing him moving through pad work, conditioning drills and time on a stationary bike, with one clip stamped with the phrase “mental strength therapy.”
The crash occurred on December 29 and left Joshua injured while claiming the lives of Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele. Ghami worked as Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach; Ayodele served as a trainer. Their sudden loss has left the 34-year-old British star navigating both physical recovery and the shock of grief alongside the demands of elite sport.
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Joshua’s video is the clearest window yet into his early steps back, offering a glimpse of a routine that looks controlled rather than performative. Pad sequences are compact. Conditioning appears deliberate. The caption’s focus on “mental strength” echoes the reality many athletes face after tragedy: the body may respond to familiar rhythms faster than the mind. The workout did not come with a timetable, declarations or bravado—just proof he is moving again.
Promoter Eddie Hearn reinforced that pace, saying he believes Joshua will return to boxing when he has had time to heal. The message signals both patience and expectation: no immediate dates, no pressure to accelerate a comeback. In boxing—a sport that often rewards urgency and punishes hesitation—such restraint functions as a form of protection.
The context matters. A fighter’s inner circle is not interchangeable staff; it is the scaffolding that shapes training, confidence and decision-making. A strength and conditioning coach like Ghami manages the engine—power, endurance, recovery cycles—while a trainer such as Ayodele refines instinct and execution. Those roles extend beyond the gym. They become trusted voices who understand a fighter’s thresholds and triggers. Losing both at once is more than a logistical reset; it is a human rupture within the framework that sustains a career.
Joshua’s choice to broadcast a sliver of training suggests he is reclaiming control the only way most fighters know how: rep by rep, round by round. The practical steps are straightforward—rebuild conditioning, reestablish rhythm, simplify targets—but the undertow is not. Grief is non-linear. “Mental strength therapy” may be his shorthand for the work that cannot be captured in a combination: finding focus amid loss and channeling it into preparation rather than distraction.
For fans and observers, the video answers one basic question—he is training—while leaving the bigger ones open. When will he fight next? Who will join the corner? How will the style evolve without the two voices that helped shape it? Those are decisions that typically emerge only after the first phase of recovery turns into repetition and structure. In boxing, clarity follows sweat.
The reality of a comeback after trauma is often quiet. It is not built on announcements but on consistency. Joshua’s session, shared without soundtrack or hype, fits that script. He is not signaling a date or an opponent. He is signaling intent. In a sport that often conflates survival with spectacle, that restraint feels like maturity.
Hearn’s assurance that Joshua will return “when he has had time to heal” offers the only proper timeline. It acknowledges the dual tracks at play: the athlete who must rebuild a training base and the man who must bury two friends. If there is any advantage for Joshua in this moment, it is the clarity that comes with adversity. The path forward is narrow, and thus easier to see—prioritize health, honor the team he lost by the way he prepares, and trust that the fight game will still be there when he is ready.
For now, the gym is both workplace and refuge. The pad snaps and the bike meters are not just measures of conditioning, but of steadiness. In a sport defined by punches thrown, the most important move Anthony Joshua made this week was simply to walk back through the door.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
