Anthony Joshua's Friends Killed in Tragic Crash: Driver Charged

Anthony Joshua’s driver attempted a risky overtake before ploughing into a stationary lorry in the crash that killed two of the heavyweight’s closest friends, a Nigerian court has been told.

Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami – Joshua’s long-time personal trainer and strength coach – died at the scene on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Makun, Ogun State, on December 29. Joshua survived and was taken to hospital.

Overtake before impact

The court heard that the driver, 46-year-old Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, tried to overtake a moving truck when he lost control and smashed into a parked lorry. Prosecutors say that manoeuvre cost Ayodele and Ghami their lives.

Kayode stands accused of causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a valid licence. He denies both charges.

Joshua, fresh from stopping Jake Paul in a lucrative Miami bout just days earlier, had been travelling with Ayodele and Ghami to visit his father in Ogun when the crash happened. All three passengers were said to have been asleep as the vehicle travelled along the busy highway.

The impact left Ayodele and Ghami fatally injured. Joshua was rushed away for treatment.

Second driver also charged

The man behind the wheel of the stationary lorry, 35-year-old Abubakar Adamu, also faces a charge of obstructing the free flow of traffic. He, too, denies wrongdoing.

By the time officers from the Ogun State Motor Traffic Division reached the scene, neither vehicle was still there, Inspector Christopher Ajayi Taiwo told the court. What they did find, he said, was a logbook, painkillers and an energy drink near the driver’s side.

The absence of the vehicles and the delay in securing direct testimony from key figures have already become part of the courtroom arguments.

No statement from Joshua

Police have yet to take a statement from Joshua himself. When Kayode’s lawyer pressed Inspector Ajayi on why the former unified heavyweight champion had not been interviewed, the officer replied that he “didn’t have his number”.

The trial has been adjourned until September 10, with both men maintaining their innocence as the case moves on.

Grief that hasn’t lifted

The legal process runs in one direction. Joshua’s grief has taken another.

In July, after his victory over Kristian Prenga, the 34-year-old tried to pay tribute to Ayodele and Ghami in the ring. The words barely came. He broke down in tears as he attempted to speak about the two men who had helped shape his career and his body.

A month earlier, he had outlined what their loss meant to him and what he felt he owed their families.

“My goal is to help their families and to help them achieve their goals, even though they may not be here in the physical. I will be saying my prayers, and I’m going to help them fulfill their dreams for their families.

“It’s not only me though helping. There’s a whole team working on that stuff. There is a whole system that will be helping fulfill their legacy, fulfill their dreams. But I know in my corner of the world, I know what I’m doing, and I know what we’re gonna do to continue there.”

As the court in Ogun prepares to resume in September, the heavyweight’s promise to honour his friends’ legacy now runs alongside a trial trying to untangle how a journey to see family ended in tragedy.