Life Is Short – Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua

Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has recounted the tragic deaths of two of his close friends following a fatal car crash in an emotional conversation with UFC star Kamaru Usman. The conversation, shared in a YouTube video posted by Usman, happened while Joshua was recovering from injuries sustained in the accident and ahead of an MMA event held in Lagos on December 30.

According to him, the reality of the loss has yet to fully sink in because they were his very close friends.

Joshua added that the shocking disaster further reiterates that life is really short.

His words, “One was in the front and one was behind him, on the right side. They both passed away. It still hasn’t sunk in. It still hasn’t hit me yet.”

Kamaru responded, “I’m sorry for that man. Hey, you scared the world, I’ll tell you that right now.

You scared the world. It’s crazy because obviously, we deal with the haters and all the bull**** each and every time and it sucks that it takes something serious like this to really see how many people have their eyes on you.”

AJ added, “Life is short man, life is short. And now look, I get to speak with you for the first time.”

WOW.

Anthony Joshua, OBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer who is a two-time unified heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles since December 2019 and previously between 2016 and June 2019. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2014 to 2016.

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born on 15 October 1989 in Watford, Hertfordshire, the son of Yeta and Robert Joshua. His mother is Nigerian, while his father is of Nigerian and Irish ancestry. Joshua’s Nigerian background can be specifically traced back to the Yoruba people, amongst whom he is of aristocratic rank.

His cousin, Ben Ileyemi, is also a professional boxer. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013. Joshua spent some of his early years in Nigeria as a boarding school student at Mayflower School in Ikenne.

Following his parents’ divorce when he was 12, he returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven to join Kings Langley Secondary School. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, he was called “Femi” by his friends and former teachers, due to his middle name, Oluwafemi. He excelled at football and athletics and broke his school’s Year Nine 100 m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.