Former world champion Anthony Joshua got emotional as he took to social media to thank the public for their support and to pay tribute to his friends, Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele, following the tragic car accident in Nigeria in December.
Joshua’s long-time strength coach, Ghami, and his personal trainer, Ayodele, both 36, had both been close friends of the boxing star since childhood.
The pair died in a road traffic collision near Lagos late last year. Their funerals were held on January 4 at a mosque in London.
Joshua has kept a low profile since the tragedy, but the former heavyweight world champion returned to social media on Thursday evening to express his gratitude for the messages of support and to honour the two men.
Taking to social media, Joshua said: ‘The last time I spoke to you guys was in Miami, we had so many plans to wrap up 2025. We went home to see our families, and everything got flipped on its head.
‘That was such an unforeseen circumstance that was out of all of our control. And not only did their parents, their uncles, their cousins, their friends, lose two great men. We lost people that we dearly care about and have been major players in all of our lives, major, major players in all of our lives. It’s tough. It’s really tough.
‘I’m not gonna sit here and show all of my emotions. I know in today’s day and age, it’s easy to analyse people, pass judgment, but I know what I thought, and I know how I feel.
‘I know what my duty is. They were my brothers, my friends, first and foremost. Then we became business partners, we became hustlers, we became generals, we became everything. We became housemates who were living together.
‘You know, I’ve lost people before, but I don’t think I’ve lost people throughout this journey that I’ve been on. It’s like you think I’m the big guy, but I was walking with giants. Protected.
Joshua also reaffirmed his commitment to looking after the families of his friends, Ghami and Ayodele.
He said: ‘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 fulfil their dreams for their families. It’s not only me, though, helping. There’s a whole team working on that stuff.’
He went on to add: ‘There is a whole system that will be helping fulfil their legacy, fulfil 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.
‘I’m gonna do what’s right by their family. It’s about what’s important to me, and they’re very important players, very important team, with very important friends and two of my brothers.
‘So yeah, I don’t think I’ve mentioned the love and appreciation. It’s all acknowledged by me, by them, by their families. 100 per cent, we acknowledge the 1000s, maybe going into millions around the world that show so much love to them both. I still can’t get my head around it.
‘We heard you all, we saw the messages, the tweets, the social media, the YouTubes, the prayers, it’s all been acknowledged. So yeah, we know what we’re going to do. Mumma Latz, Mumma Sina, Pappa Latz, Pappa Sina, one love.
