British-Nigerian heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has returned to training for the first time since the car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his close friends and team members, Saturday PUNCH reports.The 36-year-old former world heavyweight champion shared a video on Snapchat showing himself working out and hitting pads, with one clip captioned “mental strength therapy,” 19 days after the tragic incident.
Joshua suffered minor injuries when the vehicle he was travelling in collided with a stationary truck on a major road near Lagos on December 29. The crash claimed the lives of his strength and conditioning coach, Sina Ghami, and his trainer, Latif “Latz” Ayodele. The accident happened just 10 days after Joshua’s victory over Jake Paul in Miami on December 19, while he was on holiday in Nigeria.Last week, Joshua paid tribute to Ghami and Ayodele in an emotional Instagram post, reflecting on their importance in his life and career.
“I didn’t even realise how special they are,” he wrote. “I’ll just be walking with them and cracking jokes with them, not even knowing God kept me in the presence of great men. “100 per cent it’s tough for me, but I know it’s even tougher for their parents.”Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has said the boxer will return to the ring “when the time is right,” stressing that there is no pressure on him to make any immediate decisions about his future.
Speaking to Sky Sports on Wednesday, Hearn said Joshua would need time to recover physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually before deciding what comes next. “I do think he will want to return to boxing, but that will be his decision when the time is right. It is certainly not a conversation I’ll be having with him any time soon,” he said.
“The only conversation is ‘are you OK?’ and sometimes people put on a brave face, but what happened to him is not normal and is heartbreaking for everyone involved.” Hearn added that Joshua should be given all the time he needs to heal, noting that there was no rush for him to fight again. “If he never fought again, you could never blame him,” he said. “But knowing AJ, after he’s grieved, I believe he will want to get back to boxing.”
However, Joshua’s uncle, Adedamola Joshua, told PUNCH Sports Extra that the boxer has decided to retire from the sport following the tragedy. “The major thing there is that he has retired from boxing. That is one thing that makes us glad because each time he’s fighting in the ring, we are always carried away emotionally,” he said during a visit to the family home in Sagamu. Joshua spent New Year’s Eve in hospital recovering from his injuries before returning to the United Kingdom for the funerals of Ghami and Ayodele, which were held at the London Central Mosque on January 4.
Source: https://punchng.com/
