Joshua makes first public comments since fatal crash

Anthony Joshua celebrates after his win in the heavyweight boxing match against Jake Paul, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

London, United Kingdom — Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has posted on social media for the first time since a fatal car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his close friends.

The 36-year-old British fighter was a passenger in a Lexus SUV that collided with a stationary truck on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan in southwest Nigeria last Monday.

Joshua’s backroom team members Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami died in the crash, while the boxer sustained minor injuries.

Joshua was taken to hospital before being discharged on Wednesday, later flying back to the UK ahead of the funerals of Ghami, his strength and conditioning coach, and Ayodele, his personal trainer.

The former two-time unified world heavyweight champion posted two images on Instagram on Sunday, sitting alongside his mother and three other women, one of whom clutched a photograph of Ghami.

He captioned the post ‘My Brothers Keeper’.

Joshua’s social media activity comes after Nigerian police charged the driver of the vehicle, Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, with “dangerous driving causing death”. He is due to appear in court on January 20.

Joshua, the 2012 Olympic champion, has family roots in Nigeria and was on holiday in the country following his win over Jake Paul in Miami on December 19.

AFP