Ex-heavyweight champion Joshua injured in Nigeria highway crash

LAGOS: Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua was injured in a fatal highway accident that killed two people Monday, his promoter and a Nigerian police source said.

Pictures circulating online showed a shirtless Joshua – a British national of Nigerian heritage – surrounded by what appeared to be broken window glass on the seats around him.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told told Daily Mail Sport he was on a family holiday and “awoke to the news of this incident”.

“We are trying to contact Anthony and in the meantime we don’t want to speculate on how he is but thankfully he appears OK from what I have seen in the images,” he said.

Punch newspaper said the crash occurred on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway when the car he was riding in collided with a truck.

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A police source confirmed to AFP that Joshua was involved in the accident.

A witness to the crash said Joshua was travelling in a two-vehicle convoy, and was seated behind his driver.

“The passenger beside the driver and the person beside Joshua died on the spot,” Adeniyi Orojo told Punch news.

Earlier this month Joshua knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a Netflix-backed bout in Miami.

Next year, former Olympic champion Joshua is set to fight against compatriot and fellow former world champion Tyson Fury.

Joshua’s last fight prior to the match with Paul was a fifth round knockout loss to fellow Briton Daniel Dubois in September last year.