Tragedy follows triumph for Anthony Joshua with boxing future uncertain

LONDON (AP) — Fondly known as AJ, Anthony Joshua is one of Britain’s most popular sports personalities.

Just 10 days before being injured in a highway crash that killed two of his friends in Nigeria, the former heavyweight world champion knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a Netflix bout in Miami.

That was 36-year-old Joshua’s first fight since September 2024 when he lost to Daniel Dubois in London.

Joshua has built a huge fan base in Britain, selling out big stadiums on his journey to become one of the most destructive heavyweights of his generation.

He won a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012 before turning professional. Within four years he became world heavyweight champion and, in 2017, effectively ended the career of longtime champ Wladimir Klitchsko at Wembley Stadium.

Joshua won each of his first 22 fights as a professional, only to lose his belts with a shocking loss in 2019 to Andy Ruiz Jr. in New York — his first fight outside Britain.

He became a two-time world champion by taking revenge on Ruiz Jr. six months later, but back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk saw Joshua lose his titles once again.

Joshua vowed to continue boxing despite another setback when he lost to Dubois in London last year. He used the Netflix bout against Paul as a means to regain sharpness in the ring.

It was not immediately clear how the road accident in Lagos on Monday would affect his plans to return to top-level boxing.

Joshua’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, said he was in “stable condition” after the accident, which killed his friends and team members, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele.

Nigerian authorities said the car Joshua was in collided with a stationary truck by the roadside.

Joshua has family roots in Nigeria and he briefly attended boarding school there as a child. He also holds Nigerian nationality.