Anthony Joshua has given his first public update following a car crash in Nigeria which injured him and killed two of his close friends and team members.
The boxer shared a photo on social media showing him with what appeared to be the family members of his friends – whose funerals are being held on Sunday – writing the caption “My Brothers Keeper”.
The Instagram post shows Joshua and his mother with three other women, one of whom is holding a framed photo of Sina Ghami. It has attracted hundreds of messages of condolence with hearts and praying hands emojis.
Joshua, a two-time world champion boxer, was travelling in the back of a black SUV when it struck a stationary truck on a major road near Lagos on 29 December, killing his friends Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami.
The man behind the wheel of the car when it crashed has been charged on four counts including dangerous driving causing death and driving without a valid national licence.
The funerals of Joshua’s two friends will take place at a London mosque today.
Latif Ayodele was a personal trainer and old friend of Joshua’s.
A friend of Latif said that he was “one of the most pure-hearted, clean-hearted people ever… he had not a bad intention or a bad bone in his body”.
Sina Ghami was a qualified sports and exercise rehabilitator who specialised in musculoskeletal injuries and corrective exercise.
He had been part of team Anthony Joshua for over 10 years.
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The 36-year-old boxer and his mother had also attended the funeral home in Lagos ahead of today’s funeral.
The boxer, who was born in Watford to Nigerian parents, and his friends had been on holiday in Nigeria following his win over US YouTuber turned-boxer Jake Paul in Miami in December.
The crash happened on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway near Sagamu, around 30 miles from Lagos, at about midday local time (11am UK time), according to the Nigerian federal road safety corps (FRSC).
