ANTHONY JOSHUA DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER DEADLY NIGERIA CRASH

Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has been discharged from a Nigerian hospital following a car accident that killed two of his close friends. The 36-year-old British boxer was deemed clinically fit to recuperate at home, according to a joint statement from Ogun and Lagos states on Wednesday.

Joshua sustained minor injuries when the Lexus SUV he was riding in collided with a stationary truck on a major expressway on Monday. His team members, Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele, died in the crash. Ghami, a sport and exercise rehabilitation coach, had worked with Joshua for more than a decade.

After his release from hospital, Joshua and his mother visited the funeral home where his friends’ bodies were being held ahead of repatriation to Britain.

Nigerian authorities provided details of the incident. Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps said preliminary findings suggested the Lexus was travelling over the speed limit when the driver lost control during a “wrongful overtaking” manoeuvre. A spokesperson for the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency in Ogun stated the front tyre on the car’s passenger side burst while overtaking. “That led to loss of control before the vehicle … swerved and rammed into the stationary truck that was parked,” he said.

Joshua had been on holiday in Nigeria for just over a week after his recent boxing victory. He knocked out American social media star Jake Paul in the sixth round of a fight in Miami, Florida. Paul expressed his condolences in social media posts on Monday. “Life is much more important than boxing,” he wrote in one post. “I am praying for the lives lost, AJ and anyone impacted by today’s unfortunate accident.”