Anthony Joshua was released from a hospital in Nigeria on Wednesday, two days after the former two-time heavyweight champion survived a fatal car crash that killed two of his friends and team members in Lagos.
Matchroom Boxing announced on Monday that Joshua was under “observation” while recovering from minor injuries.
“Anthony was discharged from hospital late this afternoon, though heavy-hearted and full of emotions over the loss of his two close friends, strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami and trainer Latif Adoyele. He was deemed clinically fit to recuperate from home,” said Gbenga Omotoso, a Lagos state commissioner for information.
“Anthony and his mother were at the funeral home in Lagos this afternoon to pay their final respects to his two departed friends as they were being prepared for repatriation scheduled for later this evening.”
Ghami and Ayodele were seated in the passenger seat, and behind the passenger seat. Joshua was sitting behind the driver, who also survived.
The driver, who was hired for the team’s trip in Nigeria, the homeland of Joshua’s parents, has also been discharged from the hospital. He could face prosecution for reckless driving as a result of the accident, according to The Guardian Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps said that the driver was speeding and lost control “during an overtaking maneuver” on the congested Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
However, Ogun State Police Commissioner Lanre Ogunlowo told ESPN that “the accident happened as a result of a burst tire on AJ’s vehicle, which caused the driver to lose control and the vehicle to swerve into the stationary truck parked along the road.”
The vehicle was decimated upon impact and was the latest in a series of car crashes in the country. Nigeria recorded 5,421 deaths in 9,570 road accidents in 2024, according to data by the country’s Federal Road Safety Corps.
Joshua, 36, was days removed from knocking out Jake Paul in Miami and was embracing a return to the ring in February, followed by a fight against Tyson Fury in the fall.
But all of those plans are now in doubt as Joshua physically and mentally recovers from the life-altering incident.
