British boxer Anthony Joshua, former world heavyweight champion, left hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday, where he was being treated after a road accident in which two of his relatives died, according to authorities.
“Anthony Joshua left the hospital late this afternoon with a heavy heart and distraught over the loss of his two close friends, but he has been deemed medically fit to recover at home,” spokespersons for Ogun and Lagos states said in a joint statement on Wednesday evening.
The accident occurred Monday morning in the town of Makun, along the highway linking Lagos, the economic capital, to Ibadan, a city in the southwest of the country.
Nigeria, the native country of his parents
The car in which Mr. Joshua was traveling “appears to have driven above the speed limit on this stretch, and (the driver) lost control in an overtaking maneuver, colliding with a truck which was stationary on the side of the road”, according to a press release from the Federal Road Safety Corps of Nigeria (FRSC). Anthony Joshua, 36, was on vacation in the country where his parents were born.
On December 20, he beat YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul by knockout, in a fight staged by Netflix with excessive resources, for a purse estimated at 184 million dollars (156 million euros).
Anthony Joshua, Olympic champion in London in 2012 and former heavyweight king, has recorded several defeats which have tarnished his record, the last in September 2024 against his compatriot Daniel Dubois. At the end of his victory against Paul, he launched a challenge to Tyson Fury, his whimsical compatriot and also ex-heavyweight champion, whom he never faced.
