Anthony Joshua says 'This isn't about me'

Anthony Joshua says he is standing strong "as a soldier" for the parents of two close friends killed in a car crash as the British heavyweight prepares for his return to boxing.

The two-time world champion was a passenger in the car when Sina Ghami and Latif 'Latz' Ayodele died in Nigeria in December.

In his first fight since the accident, in which Joshua sustained minor injuries, he will face the relatively unknown Albanian Kristian Prenga in Riyadh on 25 July.

"You never overcome it but you gain perspective in life," Joshua, 36, told the 5 Live Boxing podcast.

"Life is humbling at times. You never know one's fate. As a soldier, I stand strong for their parents first and foremost.

"This isn't about me. I feel it's important to put their parents first at the minute.

"I'll have my time to grieve. But right now, my heart and mind tell me their parents are my main priority."

The 2012 Olympic gold medallist was speaking before Monday's news conference in London where he came face-to-face with Prenga for the first time.

Victory would clear the path for a long-awaited showdown against Tyson Fury later this year.

For more than a decade, Joshua and Fury have been the defining figures of British heavyweight boxing on the global stage, yet have never shared a ring.

An agreement is in place and both fighters are expected to earn career-high purses when they finally meet, with October or November the likely target dates.

But the fight will only materialise if Joshua takes care of business against Prenga. Fury, meanwhile, is also understood to be planning an interim bout, potentially in Dublin on 1 August against an opponent yet to be named.

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Anthony Joshua last fought against Jake Paul in December, a victory which left him with 29 wins from 33 professional fights

Promoter Eddie Hearn told the 5 Live Boxing podcast that Joshua was "happy and excited about 2026" after December's victory against Jake Paul, and that plans had been in place to fight Rico Verhoeven in March before taking on Fury in August.

But 10 days later the crash happened. "And then obviously the world came crashing down," Hearn added.

When the news conference began, the conversation understandably shifted towards the task ahead.

Wearing a tracksuit and sunglasses, Joshua spoke about a renewed sense of focus.

"I've still got that fire and I belong here," Joshua added, appearing relaxed and in good spirits.

"I don't do this as a joke. I do this because it's what I'm good at. I'm going to prove it this year and keep proving it moving forward."

As is often the case, he was philosophical and measured in his answers, speaking calmly and with perspective rather than offering dramatic declarations.

He spoke about his ambitions of becoming a three-time heavyweight world champion, and his time working alongside former rival and now gym-mate Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua said he has improved his "boxing fitness, IQ and defence" through their work together.

"Now I can really read punches again. My eyes are fully locked in," he added.

Prenga arrives with a deceptively eye-catching record of 20 wins, all by stoppage, and one defeat. The 35-year-old now lives in New Jersey in the United States and enters the biggest fight of his career as a heavy underdog.

"I am training hard. I've trained more than ever. I feel great. I feel ready. I think I'm going to shock the world," he said.

Prenga's previous three contests have all ended in first-round stoppages, but he has never faced anyone close to Joshua's calibre and remains largely unknown, even among boxing's most avid followers.

On paper, Joshua should dispatch Prenga comfortably – yet heavyweight boxing has a habit of producing the unexpected. Few predicted kickboxing star Verhoeven would give Usyk such a difficult night last month.

"I'm glad he's underestimating me," Prenga said, insisting he will show Joshua no respect when the opening bell rings.

"I want you to come into the ring and give me no respect and try to do what you think you do best," Joshua replied.

"Because across the ring is someone who will do exactly the same."

The pair shared a face-off that lasted well over a minute. Joshua removed his sunglasses midway through before it ended with a friendly handshake.

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Italians have reacted with bemusement to the restoration of a famous bull mosaic in Milan, with some wondering what has happened to the animal's "lucky-charm" testicles.

Work to repair the small crater formed by tourists grinding their heels on the bull's private parts began last week and local Milan councillor Marco Granelli said over the weekend that the mosaic had been "completely restored".

This sparked much online commentary, with users saying the bull's testicles had been erased – some joking it appeared to have been "castrated".

In their defence, Milan's city council said the project – at the city's historic 19th-Century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II arcade – had not been completed.

The beige and blue mosaic of a prancing bull surrounded by a coat of arms is meant to represent the city of Turin, which was the first capital of Italy.

The mosaic has become popular among tourists for a tradition in which people spin their heel clockwise on the bull's testicles three times.

The legend says that the practice brings good fortune and a return visit to those who partake in it, but it had also resulted in a small crater forming on the spot.

A small enclosure was erected as artisan Gianluca Galli began the restoration – kneeling before the mosaic as he cut new pieces of stone by hand.

Councillor Granelli's social media post was mocked by some online.

"What happened to the testicles?" asked one user, while another said, "Something's missing."

Milan's city council said the work was not yet fully completed, adding that the mosaic was still partially covered to allow the colours of the new tiles to settle.

It said that there had been no "disappearance" of the bull's testicles and the pink marble used for the restoration was considered the closest material to the work's original appearance.

The council added that a darker marble had been used in the mosaic's previous restoration, which was done in 2017.

Master restorer Galli told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera he was not finished yet, adding he had received no objections to his work, carried out under the "watchful eye" of the council.

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The government has published more than 1,000 pages of documents relating to Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US.

The papers include messages between Lord Mandelson and ministers, exchanging advice and news – as well as criticism of the No 10 operation, Labour MPs and the prime minister himself.

On 2 May 2025, Lord Mandelson wrote to Pat McFadden (then a Cabinet Office minister, now the work and pensions secretary) saying: "Keir lacks verve as does the Cabinet as a whole."

Then in July that year, messages between the two appear to show Lord Mandelson criticising advisers in No 10, saying they are good but "they don't work as a team, they are not led and none of them really know what Keir thinks or wants.

"In fact most of them don't think Keir knows what he wants."

Later that month, in a further message to McFadden, Lord Mandelson says: "I have a feeling that Keir is now consistently going for direction B. His recanting on his immigration speech, on welfare, now Gaza.

"There is definitely a 'let Keir be Keir' trend. This is what Morgan [McSweeney] senses and so it is particularly acute for him. His view from when Keir first stood is that the cycle has been the same, advance/buckle/advance/buckle."

Lord Mandelson later adds: "I went in to No 10 after I saw you. It is beleaguered and bereft. It requires complete revamp and infusion of purpose and confidence to get anywhere."

In the exchanges, McFadden also describes conversations he had with other Labour politicians about the welfare system and public spending in a pretty blunt way.

"Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'," he wrote to Lord Mandelson. "They're asking the wrong questions".

Allies of McFadden point out that message was sent before he was in charge of the UK's benefits regime. He was running the Cabinet Office at the time.

A spokesperson for the work and pensions secretary said: "Pat has fully complied with the Humble Address and handed over all messages.

"His only contact with Peter Mandelson since he left government has been to urge him to think about the victims in all this and apologise to them."

Lord Mandelson wrote a handwritten note to then-foreign secretary David Lammy saying the government would "never regret" making him US ambassador.

The letter was dated 18 November 2024, with Lord Mandelson writing: "I just wanted you to know that if you were minded to appoint me I would make sure you never regret it."

He said navigating Britain's interests through the Trump administration will "require super-human skills and luck and a massive team effort".

Lord Mandelson added the role would be the "last thing I do in public life" and a "huge honour", adding: "So if you are up for it, so am I."

Lord Mandelson was announced as the UK's ambassador to the US the following month on 20 December 2024.

Lammy is currently serving as deputy prime minister and justice secretary.

Lord Mandelson and senior officials discussed commissioning an official government "red box" to give as a gift to US President Donald Trump.

Amid complications in organising this, the former US ambassador told No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney he'd "gone tonto" and that the "saga" was "like something out of [TV comedy show the] Thick of It".

Sir Olly Robbins, then the top official at the foreign office, said "one of the gifts that would mean the most to the President would be a red dispatch box with the gold crest and lettering mimicking a UK Government Ministerial box but with 'President of the United States' inscribed upon it."

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said he would "action" advice from Lord Mandelson to include "more positive language about AI" at the start of a speech at a major international security conference.

On 8 February 2025, Lord Mandelson told Kyle, who was then the government's technology secretary, that his speech would "benefit from more positive language about AI up front before you get into the security stuff".

Kyle replied: " That's all v good advice which I'll action. Thank you."

Six days later Kyle gave a speech at the Munich Security Conference in which he said "in the UK, we reject the doomsayers and the pessimists" about artificial intelligence.

Lord Mandelson was critical of the government getting rid of VAT exemptions for private schools in a text exchange with House of Lords Leader Baroness Smith of Basildon.

In August 2024, Baroness Smith wrote there was "grumpiness on our side from more on our side than I'd like on getting rid of the VAT exemption in private schools" and also on another proposal for a retirement age for peers.

Responding, Lord Mandelson said: "I am afraid I think the VAT policy was probably unwise."

Concerns were raised by Lord Mandelson about the Labour government's handling of policy in a WhatsApp message exchange with Pensions Minister Torsten Bell in July 2025.

Bell refers to the "big picture" of government as "messy", with Lord Mandelson saying: "It's messy because the government doesn't do policy, generally speaking, well enough. It all starts with policy."

Bell seeks clarity on which government the then-ambassador is referring to, with Lord Mandelson replying: "Our government!"

Bell then writes: "Well that is definitely true – everyone seems to think it's someone else's job to get the policy right… which is very odd."

Mandelson replies: "As the saying goes, rubbish in rubbish out…"

While former Health Secretary Wes Streeting earlier this year released his messages with Lord Mandelson, the latest disclosure gives a further insight as to what the peer thought of them.

Following a WhatsApp message from Streeting discussing the recognition of a Palestinian state and Israel's actions, Lord Mandelson messaged McFadden in a separate exchange in July 2025.

Lord Mandelson wrote: "By way, I received a wild long hysterical message from Wes about Israel. I pushed back. I can forward but reflects pretty badly on his maturity in my view."

Four days later, as Lord Mandelson discussed meeting up with McFadden, the messages turned to Streeting again.

Mandelson said he believed "Wes is experiencing an early mid-life crisis".

A source close to Streeting said: "Wes is horrified by the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and did everything he could behind the scenes to get the government to respond appropriately."

The latest documents also show messages between Streeting and Lord Mandelson about a dinner party the pair had with members of the Murdoch media empire just before the general election.

In 2024, before he was appointed ambassador, Lord Mandelson lobbied Oxford alumni among Labour ministers to vote for him to be the next chancellor of the university, including Emma Reynolds, Ed Miliband, Torsten Bell, Georgia Gould, Ellie Reeves, Kirsty McNeill and James Murray.

Lord Mandelson was beaten to the largely ceremonial role by William Hague, the former leader of the Conservative Party.

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