British boxer Anthony Joshua has been injured in a car accident that killed two people.
Joshua, 36, was driving on Nigeria’s busiest highway, the Lagos–Abeokuta Expressway, on Monday, December 29, when the incident took place. Local police confirmed to the BBC that Joshua was “fine,” despite experiencing some minor injuries.
The Ogun State Police Command also confirmed to the British publication that the accident resulted in two fatalities. Joshua, along with others who were injured in the incident, were taken to “an undisclosed hospital,” the police said.
Several photos shared on social media appear to show a shirtless Joshua being removed from the vehicle
An eyewitness statement shared with a Nigerian outlet claimed that Joshua was “seated behind the driver” at the time of the accident and there was “another person beside him” in the vehicle.
“There was also a passenger sitting beside the driver, making four occupants in the Lexus that crashed,” the eyewitness alleged. “His security detail was in the vehicle behind them before the crash.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Joshua’s team for further comment.
Joshua is a former two-time heavyweight champion who most recently knocked out Jake Paul in their highly anticipated matchup, which streamed on Netflix from the Kaseya Center in Miami on December 19.
The match-ending blow, which ultimately broke Paul’s jaw, came after the influencer appeared to taunt Joshua by sticking out his tongue.
“It wasn’t the best performance. It wasn’t the best,” Joshua admitted after the win. “The end goal was ‘pin Jake Paul down and hurt him.’”
He added of the sixth round knockout, “It took a bit longer than expected.”
Joshua also praised Paul, 28, in a post-match interview.
“Jake Paul did really well and he deserves his props. It takes a real man to do that and he deserves respect for trying and trying and trying,” Joshua said. “It takes a real man to do that. We have to give Jake Paul respect.”
The athlete added, “He came up against a real fighter tonight.”
Joshua kicked off his boxing career at age 18 in 2009, and has received several accolades in the sport over the years. He represented Great Britain in the 2012 London Olympic Games, going home with a gold medal. Joshua held the unified world heavyweight championship title twice throughout his career — from 2017 to 2019 and from 2019 to 2021.
“My mind is filled with a different kind of pain. Just the stuff I want to do to my opponents. I want to compete. I want to fight. I want you to hit me. Then, I am going to hit you back 10 times harder,” he told Daily Mail Sports earlier this month. “I just want to compete and that’s where my mind is.”
Joshua explained how he recently made some adjustments in his life which brought him into this new mindset.
“The biggest change, it’s prayer. I’ve been praying a lot more. Whether you call that visualization affirmations or praying, it’s self talk, expressing what you want out of life and so on,” he said. “The body can only do what the mind thinks. So, now that I feel positive through prayer and thoughts, I’ve definitely improved my skill set.”
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