Anthony Joshua pictured in UK for first time since surviving car crash

Anthony Joshua is back in the UK after the fatal crash in Nigeria. Photo / Anthony Joshua, Instagram

Anthony Joshua expressed support for the families of his two friends killed in Nigeria as he posted on social media for the first time since the horror crash.

“My Brothers [sic] Keeper,” the boxer wrote in a caption alongside photographs of him comforting relatives of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, as well as his own mother. The quote is a biblical phrase from Genesis 4:9, essentially signifying a moral duty to care for others.

The tribute was posted on Instagram before funerals for the pair at a London mosque today. Joshua has flown back to the UK and is expected to be there.

Former world heavyweight champion Joshua was a passenger with his two friends and team members in a Lexus SUV that collided with a stationary truck on a major expressway near Lagos on Monday.

It was claimed in recent days that Joshua had narrowly escaped death by changing seats prior to the crash. Kayode Adeniyi, their 47-year-old driver, is accused of causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a valid driver’s licence. Appearing at Sagamu Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Adeniyi denied all charges and claimed that the brakes on the vehicle had failed.

Before the fateful crash, Adeniyi met Joshua and his team at Lagos Airport before departing for Sagamu, where Joshua has family roots and was planning to spend New Year, with the boxer in the front seat.

It was claimed in the court that Joshua moved seats at the request of the driver who was struggling to see the passenger wing mirror past the two-time heavyweight world champion.

Ayodele and Ghami died after the vehicle collided with a stationary truck on the Lagos–Ibadan expressway. Both were sitting on the side of the car that Joshua was originally in. A manhunt was launched to find the driver of the truck, who reportedly fled the scene.

Joshua, 36, sustained injuries but was released from Duchess International Hospital on Wednesday and visited a funeral home to pay respects to his two friends. The bodies of Ghami and Ayodele were repatriated to Britain on Friday morning via Istanbul after being flown by a Turkish Airlines cargo flight.

Adeniyi, who is understood to be a long-standing member of Joshua’s Nigerian logistics team, was himself discharged from hospital on New Year’s Eve before giving an official statement to police and then appearing in court on Friday. He has been granted bail and the case has been adjourned to January 20.

Joshua, who was born in Watford to British-Nigerian parents, was on holiday in Nigeria following his win over Jake Paul in Miami on December 19.

It was expected that Joshua would fight fellow former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in 2026 but that fight is now in doubt following the accident.

However, Fury confirmed on Sunday that he will return to boxing in 2026 nearly a year after he announced his latest retirement from the ring.

Fury posted on Instagram on Sunday: “2026 is that year. Return of the mac.

“Been away for a while but I’m back now, 37 years old and still punching. Nothing better to do than punch men in the face and get paid for it.”

After a second points loss to heavyweight rival Oleksandr Usyk for three of the four major world titles in December 2024, Fury announced the end of his professional career the following month. Fury had already said he was bowing out of the sport after beating Dillian Whyte in April 2022, only to return later in the year.

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