Photos have revealed how Anthony Joshua came within inches of death in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday, escaping with minor injuries while two other passengers sat inches away were killed.
The boxing champion, 36, was in a Lexus Jeep when it smashed into a stationary truck shortly after 11am today on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Makun.
The SUV looks completely totalled in grim pictures taken by eyewitnesses, while a Mitsubishi believed to be part of Joshua’s convoy sits undamaged just yards away.
The entire front of the Lexus is shown to be destroyed, with the car’s doors ripped out and the roof smashed out of place.
Footage posted online earlier saw the former heavyweight world champion shirtless and looking dazed as he sat in the wrecked vehicle among shattered glass.
But while two of the five people involved in the collision died, Joshua miraculously cheated death and was later seen in the front seat of an emergency vehicle speaking to officials.
An eyewitness told Punch newspaper: ‘Joshua was seated behind the driver, with another person beside him.
‘There was also a passenger sitting beside the driver, making four occupants in the Lexus that crashed. His security detail was in the vehicle behind them before the crash.
‘Other eyewitnesses and I began the rescue and flagged down oncoming vehicles to assist. A few minutes after the crash, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps arrived.’
A Lexus Jeep can be seen completely totalled in grim pictures taken by eyewitnesses, while a Mitsubishi believed to be part of Joshua’s convoy sits undamaged just yards away
Anthony Joshua pictured after a car crash in Nigeria on Monday which killed two people. The star came within inches of death in the horror crash
Footage posted online appears to show former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua, 36, shirtless and looking dazed as he sits in a wrecked Lexus Jeep among shattered glass
The jeep involved in the crash is believed to have been travelling ‘beyond the legally prescribed speed limit’, the Federal Road Safety Corps in Nigeria said this afternoon.
They added that the vehicle lost control while it was making ‘an overtaking manoeuvre’ before smashing into a truck parked on the side of the road.
Joshua sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital.
A friend of the star said that ‘he’s okay but badly shaken up’.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told Daily Mail Sport: ‘We are trying to contact Anthony and in the meantime we don’t want to speculate on how he is but thankfully he appears okay from what I have seen in the images.
‘We are awaiting more information on what has happened and will update in due course.’
Kayode Akinmade, information minister for Ogun State, said: ‘It appears that the car Anthony Joshua was travelling in had a burst tyre and it then collided with a stationary vehicle by the side of the road.
‘Two people who are British and who were in the car with Mr Joshua have sadly died at the scene.
‘But Mr Joshua was rescued and taken away from the scene by his private security and treated in a private hospital for minor injuries.
‘From what I understand he was on holiday in Nigeria and on his way to see relatives in Sagamu which is in Ogun State.
‘Thankfully he is doing well he was able to more or less walk away from the scene on his two legs with the help of emergency crews.’
CP Lanre Ogunlowo, Commissioner of Ogun State Police, said earlier: ‘I can confirm an accident occurred and Anthony Joshua has been taken to hospital.
‘A vehicle rammed into a stationary vehicle. Unfortunately, there were two fatalities. Anthony Joshua was treated by first-responders at the scene and then taken to hospital.’
He is later seen sitting in the front seat of an emergency vehicle, speaking to officials. The star cheated death in a horror car crash in Nigeria on Monday, escaping with minor injuries while two other passengers were killed
A truck pictured at the side of the road following the fatal collision in Nigeria on Monday
A large vehicle pictured with a tarpaulin draped over it on Monday afternoon. Five men are believed to have been involved in the crash overall
Joshua’s friend added: ‘Nobody knows quite what damage has been done, but was able to escape the wreckage.
‘Others weren’t quite so lucky so it’s been a traumatic ordeal which he’s trying to process.’
The heavyweight has family roots in Sagamu, a town in Ogun State, Nigeria, and has a tattoo of Africa on his right shoulder.
It is understood that Joshua was seated behind the driver, along with another passenger, when the crash occurred.
Four people were inside the Lexus at the time, while his security followed in a separate vehicle.
Joshua had posted a story on his Instagram account four hours ago, where he is seen topless in a video playing table tennis with his long-time friend Kevin Ayodele.
He accompanied the clip with the message: ‘@healthy_mindset dishing out table tennis smoke.’
Joshua was expected to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February next year after his sixth-round knockdown of YouTuber Jake Paul in Miami this month.
The truck that the Lexus Jeep crashed into is pictured here
Joshua had posted a story on his Instagramaccount four hours ago, where he is seen topless in a video playing table tennis with his long-time friend Kevin Ayodele
Joshua is seen on his feet after being helped from the wrecked Lexus Jeep
A picture of a truck which was posted on Instagram by his strength and conditioning coach before the group set off
Joshua is pictured with his entourage in Nigeria at the beginning of this year, with Lexus Jeep involved in the crash in the background
He had flown back to Britain after his knockout victory before his pre-planned trip to Nigeria where he was expected to stay for a week.
Joshua pocketed a reported £70million from his fight with Paul, which was viewed by more than 30 million people on Netflix.
The father-of-one, as expected, emerged triumphant – breaking his opponent’s jaw in two places ahead of the final knock-out, although later said he should have won sooner.
Joshua gave Paul credit while speaking to reporters after his victory, admitting it took him ‘a bit longer than expected’ to stop the American.
‘It wasn’t the best performance,’ he said.
‘The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request and that was on my mind. Took a bit longer than expected but the right hand found the destination.
‘Jake Paul has done really well tonight, I want to give him his props. He got up, time and time again. It was difficult in there for him, but he kept on trying to find a way through.
‘You have to give Jake his respect for trying, trying and trying. But he came up against a real fighter tonight that’s had a 15-month lay-off.’
Joshua and his promoter Hearn also looked ahead to the future, urging Tyson Fury to sign on the dotted line and set-up arguably the biggest fight in British boxing history.
Fury is expected to come out of retirement next year after stepping away from the sport when he suffered a second consecutive loss to Oleksandr Usyk in May 2024.
Hearn said: ‘We want the Tyson Fury fight of course. That’s the fight, the biggest fight.
Joshua was expected to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February next year after his sixth-round knockdown of YouTuber Jake Paul in Miami this month
‘We can do that, by the way, straight away. No interim fights. If Tyson’s ready and AJ is ready, we don’t have to fight in February or March. I think he’s saying eight weeks, 24 hours to sign a contract.’
Before Joshua added: ‘The best promoter in the world has been speaking with Turki [Al-Sheikh], His Excellency, Riyadh Season, and now he’s going to relay those messages and speak to my training team.
‘I’m a strong guy. I want to push on – but the coaches, it’s really up to them, they’re the ones that guide me. Fighters will always fight, coaches are there to guide us.
‘They know what I’ve been through over the x amount of weeks I’ve been with them so it’s up to them to make a decision. They’re going to speak with Eddie, and then hopefully in a week or so, I’ll have some news.’
