Promoter Eddie Hearn has made it clear he won’t be pushing Anthony Joshua to make any decisions about his boxing future and will give him time to heal following the death of his two close friends in a car crash in Nigeria last month.
Joshua’s close friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele both died in a crash near Lagos on Dec. 29.
The British heavyweight was in the car at the time, but escaped major injury.
While Joshua shared a tribute to his friends on Instagram on Thursday, Hearn has also provided an update on how his fighter was doing.
“Since the accident, I’ve had people phoning me saying: ‘What’s the update…’ The reality is, this is not the time for updates, this is not the time for careers,” Hearn told Matchroom Boxings YouTube channel.
“This is a time for faith and prayer and healing for Anthony. Physically, spiritually, emotionally, you’ve got to give him time. We’re not interested in the future.
“We’re interested in Anthony and his wellbeing and obviously the wellbeing as much as possible of the friends and family that are effected by this tragic incident.”
Hearn recalled with affection the impact Latz and Sina had on Joshua.
“Sina would walk into a room and just light it on like: ‘Come on!’ He was just the absolute energy lifter. And Latz the same. A really deep individual, a man of extreme faith and positivity. And we’ll miss them dearly.” Hearn said.
“These are people who had incredible families and big groups and networks of friends. I know people talk about members of AJ’s team, but they were much more than that obviously. They were some of his best mates.”
