A former world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, has recounted the tragic deaths of two of his close friends following a fatal car crash in an emotional conversation with UFC star, Kamaru Usman.
The conversation, shared in a YouTube video posted by Usman on Wednesday, took place while Joshua was recovering from injuries sustained in the accident and ahead of an MMA event held in Lagos on December 30.
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Joshua survived a crash on December 29 along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, which claimed the lives of his friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele.
The boxer was pulled from the wreckage and rushed to Duchess International Hospital, where he received medical treatment.
Footage from the video showed Joshua lying in a treatment room with bandages wrapped around his head and torso, as he spoke to Usman about the tragedy. He admitted that the reality of the loss had not yet fully registered.
Following his discharge from the hospital, Joshua has since returned to the United Kingdom.
During the conversation, Usman, a former UFC welterweight champion, asked whether Ghami and Ayodele had been seated in the front of the black Lexus at the time of the crash.
Joshua replied, “One was in the front and one was behind him, on the right side. They both passed away. It still hasn’t sunk in. It still hasn’t hit me yet.”
“I’m sorry for that, man. You scared the world, I’ll tell you that right now,” Usman responded.
“Life is short, man. Life is short. And now look, I get to speak with you for the first time,” Joshua said.
“I know. It’s a funny way of how things move, you know? We thank God,” Usman replied.
“You scared the world. It’s crazy because, obviously, we deal with the haters and all the bull**** every time, and it sucks that it takes something serious like this to really see how many people have their eyes on you,” Usman added.