Anthony Joshua, the renowned former heavyweight world champion, recently found himself in a harrowing situation in Nigeria. The 36-year-old was involved in a tragic car accident that claimed the lives of two individuals.

The accident occurred when the Lexus Jeep carrying Joshua collided with a stationary truck on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Makun, shortly after 11 a.m. today. The aftermath of the crash was captured in footage circulated online, showing Joshua shirtless and appearing dazed amidst the wreckage and shattered glass.

Subsequently, images emerged of Joshua seated in the front of an emergency vehicle, engaging in conversation with officials. Fortunately, he only suffered minor injuries but was nonetheless transported to a hospital for further evaluation.

Nigerian road safety authorities have confirmed that a total of five men were involved in the collision. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictability of road travel, even for high-profile figures like Joshua.

Five men were involved in the collision in total, Nigerian road safety officials said this afternoon. 

It is understood that Joshua was seated behind the driver, along with another passenger, when the crash occurred. His security detail followed behind the Jeep.

Authorities said the SUV is believed to have been travelling ‘beyond the legally prescribed speed limit’ and lost control while making ‘an overtaking manoeuvre’, before crashing into a truck parked on the side of the road.

The Daily Mail understands the car had a burst tyre when it swerved into the truck.

CP Lanre Ogunlowo, Commissioner of Ogun State Police, said: ‘I can confirm an accident occurred and Anthony Joshua has been taken to hospital.’ 

He added: ‘A vehicle rammed into a stationary vehicle. Unfortunately, there were two fatalities. Anthony Joshua was treated by first-responders at the scene and then taken to hospital.’ 

Anthony Joshua pictured after a car crash in Nigeria on Monday which killed two people

Footage posted online appears to show the former heavyweight world champion, 36, shirtless and looking dazed as he sits in the wrecked Lexus Jeep among shattered glass

He is later seen sitting in the front seat of an emergency vehicle, speaking to officials. Joshua sustained minor injuries and two others were pronounced dead at the scene

A friend of Joshua’s said that ‘he’s okay but badly shaken up’. 

‘Nobody knows quite what damage has been done, but was able to escape the wreckage,’ they added.

‘Others weren’t quite so lucky so it’s been a traumatic ordeal which he’s trying to process.’

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told Daily Mail Sport: ‘We are trying to contact Anthony and in the meantime we don’t want to speculate on how he is but thankfully he appears okay from what I have seen in the images. 

‘We are awaiting more information on what has happened and will update in due course.’  

An eyewitness told Punch newspaper: ‘It was a two-vehicle convoy: a Lexus SUV and a Pajero SUV. 

‘Joshua was seated behind the driver, with another person beside him. There was also a passenger sitting beside the driver, making four occupants in the Lexus that crashed. His security detail was in the vehicle behind them before the crash.

‘Other eyewitnesses and I began the rescue and flagged down oncoming vehicles to assist. A few minutes after the crash, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps arrived.’

The heavyweight has family roots in Sagamu, a town in Ogun State, Nigeria, and has a tattoo of Africa on his right shoulder. 

Joshua had posted a story on his Instagram account four hours ago, where he is seen topless in a video playing table tennis with his long-time friend Kevin Ayodele. 

He accompanied the clip with the message: ‘@healthy_mindset dishing out table tennis smoke.’ 

Two cars pictured at the scene as bystanders watch on

A truck pictured at the side of the road following the fatal collision in Nigeria on Monday

A large vehicle pictured with a tarpaulin draped over it on Monday afternoon. Five men are believed to have been involved in the crash overall

The truck that the Lexus Jeep crashed into is pictured here 

Joshua had posted a story on his Instagramaccount four hours ago, where he is seen topless in a video playing table tennis with his long-time friend Kevin Ayodele

Joshua is seen on his feet after being helped from the wrecked Lexus Jeep

A picture of a Mitsubishi truck which was posted on Instagram by his strength and conditioning coach before the group set off

Joshua is pictured with his entourage in Nigeria at the beginning of this year, with Lexus Jeep involved in the crash in the background

Joshua was expected to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February next year after his sixth-round knockdown of YouTuber Jake Paul in Miami this month.

He had flown back to Britain after his knockout victory before his pre-planned trip to Nigeria where he was expected to stay for a week.   

Joshua pocketed a reported £70million from his fight with Paul, which was viewed by more than 30 million people on Netflix. 

The father-of-one, as expected, emerged triumphant – breaking his opponent’s jaw in two places ahead of the final knock-out, although later said he should have won sooner.

Joshua gave Paul credit while speaking to reporters after his victory, admitting it took him ‘a bit longer than expected’ to stop the American.

‘It wasn’t the best performance,’ he said.

‘The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request and that was on my mind. Took a bit longer than expected but the right hand found the destination.

‘Jake Paul has done really well tonight, I want to give him his props. He got up, time and time again. It was difficult in there for him, but he kept on trying to find a way through.

‘You have to give Jake his respect for trying, trying and trying. But he came up against a real fighter tonight that’s had a 15-month lay-off.’

Joshua and his promoter Hearn also looked ahead to the future, urging Tyson Fury to sign on the dotted line and set-up arguably the biggest fight in British boxing history.

Fury is expected to come out of retirement next year after stepping away from the sport when he suffered a second consecutive loss to Oleksandr Usyk in May 2024.

Hearn said: ‘We want the Tyson Fury fight of course. That’s the fight, the biggest fight.

Joshua was expected to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February next year after his sixth-round knockdown of YouTuber Jake Paul, pictured, in Miami this month

‘We can do that, by the way, straight away. No interim fights. If Tyson’s ready and AJ is ready, we don’t have to fight in February or March. I think he’s saying eight weeks, 24 hours to sign a contract.’

Before Joshua added: ‘The best promoter in the world has been speaking with Turki [Al-Sheikh], His Excellency, Riyadh Season, and now he’s going to relay those messages and speak to my training team.

‘I’m a strong guy. I want to push on – but the coaches, it’s really up to them, they’re the ones that guide me. Fighters will always fight, coaches are there to guide us.

‘They know what I’ve been through over the x amount of weeks I’ve been with them so it’s up to them to make a decision. They’re going to speak with Eddie, and then hopefully in a week or so, I’ll have some news.’