British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua sustained minor injuries in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two people, local media reported. The accident occurred just ten days after his knockout victory over influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul. Images and videos circulating from the scene show Joshua inside a heavily damaged vehicle.
According to Punch news, the crash took place around 11am local time on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Makun, Ogun State. Reports said Joshua’s vehicle collided with a truck.
Who is Anthony Joshua?
Anthony Joshua is a British professional boxer and one of the defining heavyweight figures of his generation. A two-time unified world heavyweight champion and a 2012 Olympic gold medallist. He was born on 15 October 1989 in Watford, England, to Nigerian parents, Joshua spent part of his childhood in Sagamu, Ogun State, before returning to the UK. Joshua took up boxing around the age of 18 in 2007 after his cousin introduced him to Finchley ABC in North London. A brief prison sentence for fighting in 2009 proved a turning point. With an athletic background in football and sprinting, Joshua became immediately popular.
Nigerian-British boxing champion Anthony Joshua has reportedly been involved in a road accident in Ogun State, which tragically claimed the lives of two people. Further details surrounding the incident are yet to be officially confirmed. pic.twitter.com/2AVvvvdRzh
— Gist GH 🇬🇭 (@gist_gha) December 29, 2025
He won the Haringey Box Cup in both 2009 and 2010 and claimed the senior ABA Championships in 2010 and 2011, achieving major honours with fewer than 20 amateur bouts. His breakthrough came at the 2011 World Championships, where he won silver, followed by super-heavyweight gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games—one of Britain’s standout moments of the tournament. The Olympic triumph marked him as a future star and paved the way for a high-profile professional career.
World Champion and global star
Turning professional soon after the Olympics, Joshua became a dominant force in the heavyweight division. Between 2016 and 2021, he held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles across two reigns as a unified world champion. Beyond the ring, he is widely regarded as one of the most marketable British athletes of the 2010s and 2020s, with major sponsorships and global appeal.