A sombre and sobering end to the year - Bunce

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Anthony Joshua remains in hospital in Nigeria following the crash

BySteve Bunce

BBC Radio 5 Live boxing analyst

I was in absolute shock when I saw the news that Anthony Joshua had been involved in a car accident in which two men had died.

I saw it come through as breaking news on BBC World, so I made some calls and unfortunately my fears were realised that the men who had died included a close member of his team.

AJ always travels with close friends who are a part of his team. There are four or five of them, and it could have been any of those.

I was with them all just 10 days ago in Miami - both Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, the men who have died, were there for his fight with Jake Paul. It's heartbreaking.

These were not casual members of his team either. These were really close friends and key parts of his backroom team, so there was more than one element to their relationship with AJ.

We know Ghami, who runs a gym in London, has been around AJ for about 10 years. He was an integral part of the team, as his strength and conditioning coach.

Ayodele has been around even longer. He was a friend who trained alongside the former world heavyweight champion, and was with him all the time.

If you do the most basic of searches on social media, it will reveal the three of them together. It always seemed to be the three of them together. That's what makes this all so heartbreaking.

'At times like these, boxing does not count'

I spoke to one of AJ's management team on Tuesday morning and there is no news overnight from the hospital on him.

There has been fantastic reaction from the boxing world. It tends to do serious stuff very well. It's the trivial stuff that is messed up - like ridiculous face-offs or the banter. When it comes to serious things, the industry is really good.

Jake Paul, who AJ beat earlier this month, wrote a fantastic note on social media, saying at times like this the boxing does not count. Dozens of others have sent similarly thoughtful messages.

They all know how close he was to both Ghami and Ayodele and that is what they are worried about. That is what people in the industry are talking about and are thinking about.

It has been a fairly sombre and sobering end to the year, that's for sure.

Media caption,

Steve Bunce on the car crash involving Anthony Joshua.

'All talk of fights has been put aside'

AJ was scheduled to fight in March and then of course there was the planned showdown with Tyson Fury.

His promoter Eddie Hearn spoke to me 10 days ago and told me negotiations for the belated fight with Fury were at a stage they have never been at before - they were that close, and that close to the fight being announced.

All of that has been forgotten now. All of that has been pushed to the side.

There has been an understandable and appropriate silence in that respect from people inside boxing. Let's not mince our words, we are not known for following protocol, but it is different when it comes to this kind of thing.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Anthony Joshua beat Jake Paul by knockout in the sixth round on 19 December

'Joshua needs a lot of love and care'

AJ was in the car and was inches away from those two men when the fatal crash took place.

I cannot even begin to imagine what he must be going through. It's too much for my head to understand.

Most of us have had someone we've loved who has died and may have been there holding their hand, might have kissed them on the head and left them for their last hours. But to be in that situation, I have no idea what AJ's state of mind will be.

I am sure he needs an awful lot of love, care and attention right now.

But the people around him in Nigeria love him - and plenty around the world do too.

Some of the social media stuff from the likes of Paul and countless other boxers has been heartwarming to say the least, and I know he will have appreciated that in what must be the most difficult time for him.