Fury and Usyk unite in sympathy for rival Joshua

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have passed their condolences to the families of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, the two friends who died in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday in which the former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua was also injured.

- Paul Macinnes

Ayodele, also known as Latz, was a personal trainer, while Ghami acted as strength and conditioning coach for the 36-year-old boxer. Joshua remains in hospital in Lagos, where he was described by his management team as being in a stable condition.

Fury, who had been expected to come out of retirement to fight Joshua next year, posted a tribute to Ghami and Ayodele on social media, writing: “This is so sad. May God give them good bed in heaven.”

Usyk, the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight champion, spoke of “an unbelievable loss” on social media, describing Ghami and Ayodele as “two incredible people who were not only apart of AJ’s team, but also friends!” Usyk passed his “sincere condolences to their families, loved ones and everyone who knew them” and wrote to Joshua: “Stay strong, champion”.