Boxer Anthony Joshua ‘Heavy Hearted’ as He’s Discharged from Hospital After Car Crash That Killed His 2 Friends

Boxer Anthony Joshua has been released from the hospital after surviving a car crash that killed two of his friends.

Lagos’ State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, said in a statement on X that Joshua was discharged late on the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 31, after being deemed clinically fit to recuperate from “home.”

Omotoso noted in the release that Joshua, 36, was “heavy-hearted and full of emotions over the loss of his two close friends.”

The official also revealed that the sports star and his mother had been at the funeral home following his release to “pay their final respects to his two departed friends,” who were being “prepared for repatriation [back to the U.K.].”

Per The Guardian, who were citing the boxer’s promoter, Joshua had been under observation in the hospital and had only suffered “minor” injuries.

Omotoso confirmed the names of those who had lost their lives in the crash as Latif Ayodele, a personal trainer for Joshua, and Sina Ghami, his strength and conditioning coach. The trio were also close friends, and Joshua posted clips on social media of him playing table tennis with Ayodele just hours before the crash.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, the crash took place at around 11 a.m. local time on Monday, Dec. 29, when Joshua was a passenger in a Lexus Jeep that smashed into a stationary truck while traveling along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Makun, according to local news outlets The Punch, The Daily Sun and The Guardian.

“It was a two-vehicle convoy: a Lexus SUV and a Pajero SUV. Joshua was seated behind the driver, with another person beside him,” witness Adeniyi Orojo told The Punch. “There was also a passenger sitting beside the driver, making four occupants in the Lexus that crashed.”

According to a report in The Times, who cite The Daily Mail, the driver of the vehicle is expected to face charges in relation to the incident imminently. 

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Kayode Adeniyi, a longstanding member of Joshua’s Nigerian logistics team, is likely to be charged with reckless driving later this week, The Daily Mail has reported, as noted by The Times.

According to The Times, an investigation by Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps has suggested that the vehicle was being driven at an excessive speed when its tire burst, and that it might have been involved in dangerous overtaking.

Meanwhile, The Guardian notes that the crash has raised growing concerns about road safety in Nigeria. The West African nation recorded 5,421 deaths in 9,570 road accidents in 2024, according to data by the country’s federal road safety corps.

Joshua has been spending time in Nigeria since defeating Jake Paul in a heavyweight fight at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Dec. 19.