Anthony Joshua has paid a deeply personal tribute to two close friends and long-time members of his training team who died in a road accident while travelling with him in Nigeria.

The former unified heavyweight champion, known for keeping his private emotions away from the public eye, broke that habit to honour strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Latif “Latz” Ayodele. Both men were part of Joshua’s inner circle, helping to shape not only his body and career, but also his mindset and daily discipline.

In a rare, raw message shared on Instagram Stories, Joshua tagged their accounts and addressed them directly, as if speaking to them one more time. He wrote to @healthy_mindset and @sina_evolve:

“THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING MY BROS

BOTH OF YOU REALLY HELPED ME.

I DON’T USE SOCIALS TO VOICE MY FEELINGS BUT I WANT TO SAY I AM THANKFUL FOR THE TIME THE BROS SPENT WITH ME.”

He then added a defiant coda, a line that sounded like a mixture of grief, gratitude and frustration:

“I just felt like saying it. If you don’t like it, try and do something about it.”

The message, brief but loaded with emotion, offered a rare glimpse into the private world behind one of boxing’s most recognisable public figures. Joshua, who has built a reputation on discipline, composure and carefully measured public statements, chose this moment to speak plainly and directly, without polish or public-relations distance.

According to reports from Nigeria, Ghami and Ayodele died in a crash along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, one of the country’s busiest and most dangerous highways. They were travelling with Joshua during a visit to Nigeria, a country he has long described as central to his identity and sense of belonging. Born in the United Kingdom to Nigerian parents, Joshua has frequently spoken about his roots, his extended family in the country and the pride he feels in representing both nations.

The loss of Ghami and Ayodele is not just a personal tragedy for Joshua, but a blow to the tight-knit team that has surrounded him throughout his rise from promising amateur to global heavyweight star. In elite boxing, the public often sees only the fighter under the lights, but behind every performance is a small group of specialists who live the same schedule, share the same sacrifices and carry the same pressure.

Sina Ghami, described by those who knew him as meticulous and quietly driven, worked as Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach. His role went far beyond designing gym sessions. Strength and conditioning coaches are responsible for building the engine that allows a heavyweight to carry power, speed and endurance over twelve gruelling rounds. They monitor recovery, nutrition, sleep and the fine balance between pushing an athlete to the limit and protecting them from injury.

For a fighter of Joshua’s size and style, that work is critical. Ghami’s sessions would have shaped everything from Joshua’s explosiveness in close exchanges to his ability to maintain composure and output in the championship rounds. But Joshua’s tribute suggests that Ghami’s influence was not only physical. By tagging his account and thanking him for “everything,” Joshua hinted at a relationship that extended beyond the gym floor, into the realm of trust, advice and brotherhood.

Latif “Latz” Ayodele, meanwhile, served as Joshua’s personal trainer and was widely regarded as a trusted confidant. Personal trainers in a champion’s camp often become the constant presence: the person who is there in the early-morning runs, the late-night sessions, the quiet days between fights and the tense final weeks of camp. They see the fighter at their most vulnerable and their most confident, and over time, the relationship can resemble that of family more than staff.

Ayodele’s nickname, “Latz,” was well known within Joshua’s circle. Friends and colleagues have described him as energetic, positive and fiercely loyal. For someone in Joshua’s position, surrounded by commercial obligations and public scrutiny, having a small group of people who knew him before the fame, or who treated him as a person rather than a brand, has always been crucial. Ayodele was one of those people.

That he chose to break that rule for Ghami and Ayodele speaks to the depth of their impact on his life. The phrase “both of you really helped me” is simple, but in the context of a career that has taken Joshua from local gyms to sold-out stadiums, it carries weight. Help, in this sense, likely meant more than just professional support. It suggests emotional steadiness during defeats, encouragement during injuries, and presence during the long, lonely stretches of training that the public never sees.