Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has been discharged from hospital after a car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his close friends. The 36-year-old boxer was deemed clinically fit to recuperate at home, according to a joint statement by Ogun and Lagos states on Wednesday.
Joshua suffered minor injuries when the Lexus SUV he was a passenger in collided with a stationary truck on a major expressway on Monday. His team members, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, were killed in the accident. Ghami, a sport and exercise rehabilitation coach, had worked with Joshua for more than a decade.
After leaving hospital, Joshua and his mother visited the funeral home where his friends' bodies were being held ahead of repatriation to Britain. Nigeria's Federal Road Safety Corps said preliminary findings suggested the Lexus was traveling over the speed limit when the driver lost control during a wrongful overtaking maneuver.
A spokesperson for the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency in Ogun told Agence France-Presse that the front tyre on the car's passenger side burst while overtaking, leading to loss of control before the vehicle swerved and rammed into the stationary truck.
Joshua had been on holiday in Nigeria for just over a week after knocking out American social media star Jake Paul in the sixth round of a fight in Miami, Florida. Paul expressed his condolences on social media, saying, 'Life is much more important than boxing. I am praying for the lives lost, AJ and anyone impacted by today's unfortunate accident.'
