Jake Paul Issues Statement After Anthony Joshua Involved In Fatal Car Crash

Jake Paul has issued a statement after recent opponent Anthony Joshua was involved in a car crash which saw two people die.

Back in Nigeria where he has family roots, Joshua was a passenger in a vehicle which crashed into a stationary truck by the side of the road on an expressway in Makun, Ogun State on Monday.

Pictures released by local media showed the two-time heavyweight champion topless in the backseat surrounding by glass, with footage emerging of him exiting the car in serious discomfort.

It was reported by local media that Joshua was "rescued alive and sustained minor injuries" but the Federal Road Safety Corps in Nigeria said 'AJ' was one of five people in the Lexus Jeep, with two unnamed males sadly passing away on the spot.

They also said that the car was travelling "beyond the legally prescribed speed limit" and lost control during "an overtaking manoeuvre".

Joshua suffered minor injuries in the crash which claimed the lives of two people. Image: The Punch

Paul, who Joshua knocked out in their Miami superfight seen by 33 million viewers globally on Netflix, sent his prayers with a post on social media.

"Life is much more important than boxing," he wrote on X.

"I am praying for the lost lives, AJ and anyone impacted by today’s unfortunate accident."

On his Instagram story prior to the crash, Joshua posted a video of him playing table tennis with a friend - captioning it "@healthy_mindset dishing out table tennis smoke".

CP Lanre Ogunlowo, Commissioner of Ogun State Police, said at "Joshua was treated by first-responders at the scene” before being taken to hospital.

An eye-witness said that there "was a two-vehicle convoy" with security present and that officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps arrived shortly after the incident.

Eddie Hearn, Joshua's long-time promoter, issued a statement on the matter, telling the Daily Mail: "I am away on a family holiday and awoke to the news of this incident.

"We are trying to contact Anthony and in the meantime we don’t want to speculate on how he is but thankfully he appears OK from what I have seen in the images.

"We are awaiting more information on what has happened and will update in due course."

SPORTbible has reached out to Matchroom and Joshua's representatives for comment.