{"id":376757,"date":"2025-12-30T06:58:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/376757\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T06:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:58:16","slug":"former-world-heavyweight-champion-anthony-joshua-is-stable-after-2-die-in-car-accident-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/376757\/","title":{"rendered":"Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is ‘stable’ after 2 die in car accident in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Anthony Joshua, the two-time former world heavyweight champion<\/a> from Britain, was in a stable condition in the hospital Monday after being involved in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two people who were close friends and team members, his promoter said.<\/p>\n

Eddie Hearn\u2019s Matchroom Boxing said on X<\/a> that Joshua \u201csustained injuries in the accident and was taken to hospital for checks and treatment\u201d and he will \u201cremain there for observation.\u201d It named Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele as the two passengers who had \u201ctragically passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos on social media showed Joshua being extricated from a wrecked vehicle while he was wincing in pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing thorough clinical evaluations, medical professionals have confirmed that both patients (hospitalized after the accident) are stable and do not require any emergency medical intervention at this time,\u201d a joint statement by Lagos and Ogun state governments said.<\/p>\n

The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, confirmed the accident in a post on X, adding that the government had sent ambulances to the crash site. <\/p>\n

The crash occurred on a major thoroughfare \u2014 the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which links Ogun state to Lagos, the country\u2019s economic capital \u2014 at about 11 a.m. local time. Nigeria is the homeland of Joshua\u2019s parents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ogun State Police earlier said in a statement: \u201cThe vehicle conveying Mr. Joshua, a Lexus SUV, was involved in the accident under circumstances that are currently being investigated. Joshua, seated in the rear of the vehicle, sustained minor injuries and is receiving medical attention with another injured person.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Olusegun Ogungbemide, spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps, preliminary investigations indicated the vehicle was \u201ctraveling beyond the legally prescribed speed limit on the corridor, lost control during an overtaking maneuver and crashed into a stationary truck,\u201d which was by the side of the road.<\/p>\n

The Ogun state government said that \u201cpreliminary reports indicate that two male foreign nationals died on the spot.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018Life is much more important than boxing\u2019<\/p>\n

Joshua beat YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul<\/a> on Dec. 19 in a bout in Miami, which he was using to regain sharpness in the ring. He lost the world heavyweight title in 2021 to Oleksandr Usyk.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is much more important than boxing. I am praying for the lost lives, AJ and anyone impacted by today\u2019s unfortunate accident,\u201d Paul said Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s president calls Joshua<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s president, Bola Tinubu, called Joshua in hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke with AJ on the phone to personally convey my condolences over the death of his two associates,\u201d the president said on X. \u201cI wished him a full and speedy recovery, and prayed with him. AJ assured me he is receiving the best possible care. I also spoke with his mother and prayed for her. She was deeply appreciative of the call.\u201d<\/p>\n

No further details on Joshua\u2019s condition were given.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnthony Joshua is in an undisclosed hospital being treated for his injuries,\u201d Lanre Ogunlowo, the commissioner of police for Ogun state, told the AP. He said he has no further information on the injuries.<\/p>\n

Hearn had earlier told Daily Mail Sport that he was \u201caway on a family holiday and awoke to the news of this incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to contact Anthony and in the meantime we don\u2019t want to speculate on how he is but thankfully he appears OK from what I have seen in the images.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joshua briefly went to boarding school in Nigeria at the age of 11. He returned there for the first time in 17 years in 2019, ahead of a fight against Andy Ruiz Jr.<\/p>\n

Joshua has been in talks to fight fellow Briton Tyson Fury in 2026.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP boxing: https:\/\/apnews.com\/boxing<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writer Steve Douglas in Sundsvall, Sweden, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Ope Adetayo, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Anthony Joshua, the two-time former world heavyweight champion from Britain, was in a stable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-376757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}