It’s been a very trying last few months for Anthony Joshua. AJ was fresh off of pummeling Jake Paul and earning a massive paycheck when tragedy struck during a trip to Nigeria.
Joshua was involved in a car crash that took the lives of two of his closest friends, Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami. Being so close to death rightfully shook AJ, leading to him making a very introspective comment about his late friends in the aftermath: “One day my time will come and I’m not scared either at all. It’s actually comforting knowing I got two brothers on the other side.”
Rumors quickly surfaced regarding Joshua’s future, with a retirement from boxing fully on the table for the 36-year-old. Joshua hasn’t confirmed anything yet, although his promoter, Eddie Hearn, claims a summer tune-up fight could be followed by a mega-bout agains Tyson Fury at the end of 2026.
Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua have developed close friendship outside of boxing ring
Meanwhile, Joshua has been spending time with heavyweight legend Oleksandr Usyk in the latter’s native country of Ukraine. Despite having lost twice to Usyk in the ring, Joshua linked up with Team Usyk initially ahead of his bout with Paul last December. Now, the two have connected again on Usyk’s home turf, as the heavyweight champion prepares for his fight against Rico Verhoeven.
Joshua has considered Usyk as a “brother“, with their newfound friendship somewhat of a surprise to many. But there’s a mutual respect there that goes beyond the ring. That was very apparent during a moment where a member of Usyk’s endeavor gifted Joshua a custom new phone.
The Ukrainian teased AJ, saying that he noticed Joshua was using an old phone. With that in mind, he gifted Joshua a “special present“, which was a custom platinum phone. It showed that Joshua and Usyk are on the same wavelength, with big things planned for 2026.
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