Anthony Joshua has shared a heartfelt video addressing the Nigeria car crash that left him hospitalized and took the lives of two of his close friends.
"The last time I spoke to you guys was in Miami,” the British boxer began the clip, which he shared to Instagram on Thursday (January 29). “We had so many plans to wrap up 2025, and we were on a mission. We went back home, went to see our families, and everything just got flipped upside on its head.”
He continued: "We lost people that we dearly care about, [who] have been major players in all of our lives. Major, major players in all of our lives. It's tough. It's really tough. … You know, they're my brothers. They're my friends, first and foremost. Then we became business partners. We became hustlers. We became lieutenants. We became generals. We became everything. We became housemates. We were living together."
On December 29, 2025, Joshua was involved in a car crash in Nigeria. He was travelling as a passenger and was left injured as a result of the crash. His friends, Latif "Latz" Ayodele and Sina Ghami — who served as his personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach, respectively — were pronounced dead in the collision. The driver of the vehicle also survived the crash and has since been charged with driving causing death, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care and attention causing bodily harm and damage to property, and driving without a valid national driver’s license.
"One day my time will come, and I'm not scared either, at all," Joshua continued. "It's actually comforting knowing I've got two brothers on the other side. I've lost people before, but I don't think I've lost people like that, on my left and my right, you know? … I was walking with giants, man, that kept me protected, kept me shielded. But the mission must go on. I understand my duty. I understand what they wanted to do for their families. So what my goal is, is to continue to help them achieve their goals."
While he said it’s going to require a lot of strength for him to deal with the grief of losing his friends, he’s committed to soldiering on in honor of them.
"I'm going to do what's right by them, I'm going to do what's right by their family. It's about what's important to me, and they're very important players," he said. "I don't think I mentioned the love and appreciation. It's all acknowledged by me, by them, by their families, 100 percent. … I just want to say thank you. We heard, we saw the messages, the tweets, the social media, the YouTube, the prayers. It's all been acknowledged. … Thank you for the love worldwide. Continue, don't let it stop. And for anyone out there that's lost a son, a brother, one love to you, from us to you, we're sending that love straight back."
In the caption for the post, he also thanked the doctors and nurses at Lagoon Hospital Ikoyi, and everyone who helped him get settled back in the UK. "Your efforts, kindness, and support will never be forgotten," he concluded.
Before his video message, Joshua shared a photo thanking everyone for sending love to Latz and Sina’s families, as well as condolences to him.
"Thank you for all the love and care you have shown my brothers," he wrote. "I didn’t even realise how special they are. I’ll just be walking with them and cracking jokes with them, not even knowing God kept me in the presence of great men. 100% it’s tough for me, but I know it’s even tougher for their parents."
He also shared a photo showing him with the family of Latz. "My brothers keeper," he captioned the post.