British professional boxer Anthony Joshua suffered minor injuries Monday in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two other passengers, according to authorities.
The crash occurred around 11 a.m. local time along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, local officials said. It comes just days after Joshua received a lot of publicity heavyweight victory via YouTube star Jake Paul in Miami on December 19.
Ogun State Police Command wrote in a statement that Joshua was in the back of a Lexus SUV at the time of the crash and was receiving medical attention for minor injuries. Two other passengers died on the spot. The status of the driver is unclear.
The Also the Federal Road Safety Corps said in a statement that the Lexus Jeep was traveling “outside the legal speed limit” when it crashed into a stationary truck.
In a separate X-post, Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, shared this a photo of the accident and noted that ambulances had been called to the scene. The image showed Joshua standing at the crash site.
Megan Briggs via Getty Images
Eyewitness Adeniyi Orojo told this to a local newspaper The punch that the passenger sitting next to the driver and the person sitting next to Joshua both died at the scene.
The Punch also shared a photo of Joshua sitting in the damaged vehicle, as well as a video of the former two-time heavyweight champion emerging from the SUV at the crash site.
BBC reported that one of Joshua’s family members said the boxer was traveling from Lagos to his family’s home at the time of the accident.
On Monday morning, Jake Paul shared his thoughts on the tragedy in a X message.
“Life is much more important than boxing. I pray for the lives lost, AJ and everyone affected by today’s unfortunate accident,” he wrote.
After the crash, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, told the newspaper Daily mail“We are trying to contact Anthony and in the meantime we don’t want to speculate on how he is doing, but fortunately he appears to be OK from what I have seen from the footage.”
Hearn added: “We are waiting for more information about what happened and will update in due course.”
HuffPost has contacted Hearn for comment, as well as the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Ogun State Police Command for more details on the crash.
Officials say the accident is under investigation.
