Will Anthony Joshua box again? Nothing could matter less

Comment: The heavyweight lost two close friends in a car crash on Monday, as Joshua escaped with minor injuries. So, what of in-ring plans for 2026 and beyond? Just forget them

If you are reading this, you have already seen the headline, so let’s address that part at once: it does not matter if Anthony Joshua ever fights again. In fact, nothing could matter less.

On Monday, the former two-time world heavyweight champion was a passenger in a car crash in Nigeria. Joshua, 36, escaped the accident with minor injuries but was visibly dazed and in pain in the aftermath, before being taken to hospital. What accompanied this surprising, concerning news, was more grave: the rumoured deaths of two people, with rumour becoming reality in a tragic turn as the day unfolded.

To compound the tragedy, for Joshua, the two victims were his teammates. More than that, they were his friends – his strength coach of more than 10 years, Sina Ghami, and his personal trainer Latif “Latz” Ayodele.

Monday’s incident would have been no less tragic if those losing their lives were unknown in the boxing world or unknown to Joshua. In the same vein, there is a sentiment that naturally feels awkward to express, but it is one that “AJ” would be the first to endorse: Monday’s news would technically have been no more tragic had Joshua himself been involved; yes, his body weighs more than most, but his life does not.

Still, sports fans know all too well the way the sporting world can freeze in the face of such horror. It did so when Kobe Bryant and his daughter lost their lives in a helicopter crash in 2020, and when Diogo Jota and his brother passed away in a car crash this summer, for example. But in the same way that it felt morbid to speculate on the actual details of Monday’s events as information seeped out, it feels wrong to speculate on the what-ifs of another lifetime.

Anthony Joshua (centre) with Sina Ghami (left) and Latif Ayodele (Instagram)

One aches to consider how much life Ghami and Ayodele, both 36, had ahead of them. Again, the weight of this devastation does not swell because they were successful, but Ghami and Ayodele had risen to the top of their respective fields and had earned the right to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Those fruits were scattered and lost somewhere on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on 29 December 2025.

Now, the boxing world publicly mourns Ghami and Ayodele, as it should. Privately, their families will be tasked with processing cruel, incomprehensible loss. And then there is Joshua, who similarly faces the fight of his life.

The Briton, an Olympic gold medallist and world champion, has filled stadiums with gawping masses observing his gladiatorial clashes with destroyers of his generation. For the most part, Joshua has crushed those very juggernauts. But Wladimir Klitschko and Daniel Dubois do not hit as hard as disarming emotions and mental contraptions like grief, trauma, or survivor’s guilt.

A car believed to have been Joshua’s in Monday’s crash (X/@FRSCNigeria)

These are the opponents Joshua may encounter in the coming months. You can forget a planned return to the ring in February. You might as well forget a mooted 2026 showdown with Tyson Fury. Truly, it is conceivable that Joshua may decide never to fight again. And that is OK.

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Just a week and a half ago, AJ was in the ring with Jake Paul in the most-watched fight of the year, breaking down the influencer across six rounds and ultimately shattering the American’s jaw in two places. Under arena lights and in front of flashing phones and Netflix cameras, Joshua eventually produced a pummelling in Florida’s great party city, Miami. The punctuation point, the punch that put down Paul for good, also put an end to inane pre-fight questions like, “Is the fight going to be rigged?”

Yet one question that continues to be asked is: “How much money did they make?” This question is understandable, in fairness, born of human nature. But it is only as understandable as it is now irrelevant. All of the pre- and post-fight debates and questions are irrelevant. The controversy of the carnival fight has washed away in the cold tide of Monday’s tragedy.

For what it’s worth, when the dust settles on this week’s sudden accident, Joshua will likely have a greater perspective on it and his career than most could imagine.

Joshua broke Jake Paul’s jaw in knocking out the YouTuber on 19 December (Getty for Netflix)

Joshua in the moments after his stoppage of Paul (Getty)

After Monday’s crash, Boxing King Media shared an interview with the fighter from earlier this year. Speaking from ringside at an event, Joshua – pertinently, in retrospect – said: “With the death thing, I just look at life and... All of this stuff here, believe it or not, is a big distraction.

“In the grand scheme of things, everything that I chase and want to own to make me feel relevant on this earth is not so important, because I can’t take it with me. That’s what’s guaranteed: death. Ain’t it mad how fast life will go? We’ll be old, and one day all that will matter is living to the best of our capability.

“I went to see my grandad the other day, and he’s very old now, and I was just thinking, all that matters to him, probably, is who’s looking after him at his elderly age, because he can’t really look after himself any more. It’s mad that, at one stage in his life, going to work was the most important thing ever. Now, to that business he’s nothing, because he’s too old; and to him that work relationship with his life is nothing.”

Joshua actually spent the last year, in the wake of his defeat by Dubois, closing down certain businesses and making his inner circle tighter. These decisions were all made with the success of his boxing career in mind. Given his Nigerian roots, his visit to the country around the Christmas period was made with his family in mind.

And one can’t help but think that now – as a father, son and friend – Joshua’s mind will be anywhere but in the boxing ring. That might be the best thing for him. What more can be said?