Renowned boxer Anthony Joshua was in a deadly car accident but made it out with injuries. The former world heavyweight champion, who is a British citizen of Nigerian descent, was travelling along a highway in Nigeria on Monday morning when a collision claimed the lives of two people, per reports.
Images and videos of the scene have since been circulating online. One of the pictures shows the injured champ seated in the back of a vehicle with seemingly shards of broken glass around him. A video captured onlookers swarming the vehicle as he struggled to exit. He was visibly in a lot of pain and required assistance from at least two people.
It appears that he was also being assisted with putting on his shirt, which is when the footage ends. The collision was confirmed by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, and the police. According to a statement to the Daily Mail, Hearn said he was at home with family for the holiday when the incident happened. He learnt of the crash early in the morning when someone woke him up and told him what happened.
Hearn, who said he has yet to hear from Joshua, shared that he did not want to jump to conclusions about Joshua’s condition. He said all efforts to contact the boxer have been unsuccessful. However, he said Joshua appeared to be alright after the crash based on the circulating images.
According to a Nigerian report, which cited an eyewitness, Joshua occupied a two-vehicle convoy. He was seated behind the driver and was travelling on the Lagos-Ibadan motorway. The witness, Adeniyi Orojo, indicated that there were a total of four people, including Joshua, inside the vehicle. The convoy later collided with a truck.
Orojo shared with Punch news that while Joshua survived the crash, the front passenger and the back passenger next to Joshua died at the scene.
Joshua recently won a Miami-based boxing match sponsored by Netflix earlier this month. During the match, he defeated YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. His fight before taking on Paul saw Joshua suffer a fifth-round knockout at the hands of fellow Briton Daniel Dubois in September of last year.
Joshua has a highly anticipated event slated for next year when he will go up against compatriot and fellow former world champion Tyson Fury.
