Anthony Joshua Discharged From Hospital Days After Fatal Car Crash

Boxer Anthony Joshua has been discharged from the hospital after surviving a fatal car accident in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his close friends, state officials confirmed on Wednesday. The accident occurred on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan in the southwestern part of the country on Monday.

Joshua, a former heavyweight champion, was travelling with friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele when their SUV collided with a stationary truck.

Preliminary investigations by the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) in Ogun state revealed that the vehicle was speeding and had burst a tyre before the crash.

“Anthony Joshua was discharged from hospital late this afternoon,” stated spokesmen for the Lagos and Ogun state governments

in a joint announcement on Wednesday night.

The statement, released by Lagos state’s spokesman Gbenga Omotoso and his Ogun counterpart Kayode Akinmade, expressed that despite being deeply saddened by the loss of his friends, Joshua was deemed fit to recover at home.

The state governments have been overseeing Joshua’s treatment since the incident on Monday. Following his release from the hospital, Joshua and his mother visited the funeral home where the bodies of his friends were being prepared for repatriation, the statement added.

Nigerian police confirmed that the two victims died at the scene of the accident.

Joshua, 36, was initially admitted to Lagos’s Lagoon Hospital, which contradicted earlier reports from a TRACE official naming a different hospital.

Joshua’s family originates from the southwestern city in Nigeria, and he is known to visit frequently. Lagos, the bustling economic capital of Nigeria, sees an influx of visitors from across the country and the diaspora each December.

Photos released by the police showed the wreckage of a black sports utility vehicle.

In December, Joshua knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a Netflix-backed bout in Miami. The former Olympic champion has since been linked to a potential fight against fellow former world champion Tyson Fury.

Joshua’s last fight before the bout with Paul was a fifth-round knockout loss to Briton Daniel Dubois in September 2024.

With AFP Inputs