Former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua escaped relatively unscathed from a car crash in which two of his friends and members of his management team were killed in his native Nigeria on Monday, Nigerian authorities and his promoter said.
The incident happened at about 11 a.m. (5 a.m. ET) on a busy section of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, which links Ogun with the commercial hub of Lagos, local police in Ogun state said.
Joshua, who has family roots in Ogun, suffered only “minor bruises,” but Babaseyi Boluwatife, a spokesman for the Ogun State Police Command, said two other passengers in the car with him — one of whom was driving — were killed.
Joshua’s friends Sina Ghami and Kevin Latif were also killed in the crash, according to Joshua’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, and Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
2 Dead as Anthony Joshua involved in Car Crash in Lagos Nigeria 10 days after his victory fight against Jake Paul
Video Credit: Punch pic.twitter.com/OM9xFdaCIp
— 𓃵 Jæy 𝕏 Shëgz🇳🇬 (@Jonnytheflipper) December 29, 2025
“I spoke on the telephone to wish AJ my condolences for the loss of his two close personnel, Kevin Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami, who died in the recent accident; “I prayed for him and wish him full recovery, when we get free from COVI-19 spiritillity I am sure we will be able to sit down together. AJ is with the best team and at this time overwhelmed with love life and all that it has to offer.”
Ghami was Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach, and he often accompanied Joshua during visits to Nigeria, according to social media videos. Ayodele was Joshua’s fitness coach and had been playing ping pong with him in a video posted on his Instagram story just hours before the crash. Ayodele’s initial image on Instagram features a baby-faced Josh just starting his journey as a fighter.
Ghami, who was captured working on conditioning training with Joshua in Miami last week before his high-profile fight against Jake Paul later this month, shared a final Instagram story of a black SUV in Lagos.
He was Joshua’s full-time sport and exercise rehabilitation coach for 10 years. Ghami also trained NFL player Le’Veon Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers and NBA player Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
Eddie Hearn of Matchbox Boxing said in a statement: “Ghami and Ayodele were Joshua’s close friends and team members, he holds them in the highest regard as athletes and as human beings.”
Joshua was hospitalised for “precautionary checks,” Hearn said, and would “stay in overnight…for observation.”
Joshua is a former three-belt world heavyweight champion and won gold at the 2012 London Olympics as an amateur competing for Great Britain.
The fatal crash occurred just over a week after he scored a knockout victory against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their heavyweight bout in Miami on December 19. Paul’s jaw was broken in the fight.
“Life is always more important than any sport,” Paul wrote to X. “I hope everyone made it out okay, and I am praying for the loss of people’s lives, [AJ] and all the families and people affected by todays accident.”
Local media also reported the road where the crash occurred has recently been named as Nigeria’s most deadly highway, recording over 600 deaths in 27 months.
Joshua was driving in a Lexus SUV when the accident happened, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), which said he overshot while trying to avoid hitting two vehicles.
It said that “preliminary findings showed that the Lexus Jeep, which was suspected to have been speeding at a legally unauthorized speed on the corridor, lost control while passing and rammed into the stationary truck parked off the road.“The jeep then somersaulted resulting in 12 fatalities,” it added.
“The resultant crash which was attributed to excessive speed and wrongful overtaking is categorized as a fatal road traffic crash, OVİ with 5 deaths. “The high risk offences of speeding and reckless driving are the main contributor to road traffic crashes on Nigerian roads.”
Footage of Joshua being pulled from the crash has since been shared to social media. The boxer, who was born to Nigerian parents in Watford, near London, has retained ties to Nigeria.
The Joshuas are a well known family in Sagamu town, Ogun state and their generation cut across. Joshua made no secret of the fact he was born in Nigeria thanks to a tattoo of the map of Africa (with Nigeria picked out) on his right shoulder.
