‘Mental strength therapy’ – Joshua returns to gym

British heavyweight Anthony Joshua has returned to the gym following the recent car crash which killed two of his close friends and team members.

The former world heavyweight champion, 36, sustained minor injuries in the incident in Nigeria on 29 December.

Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele died when their vehicle, in which Joshua was also a passenger, collided with a stationary truck on a major road near Lagos.

Nineteen days after the crash, Joshua has posted a video on Snapchat showing him hitting pads and working out, with the message “mental strength therapy” at the bottom of one clip.

He beat Jake Paul in Miami on 19 December, 10 days before the crash occurred while he was on holiday in Nigeria.

Last week he posted a tribute to his strength and conditioning coach Ghami and trainer Ayodele on Instagram.

“I didn’t even realise how special they are,” he wrote. “I’ll just be walking with them and cracking jokes with them, not even knowing God kept me in the presence of great men.

Promoter Eddie Hearn believes that Joshua will return to boxing “when the time is right”.

On Wednesday, Hearn told Sky Sports: “He will need his time physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually before he makes a decision on his future.

“I do think he will want to return to boxing, but that will be his decision when the time is right.

“It is certainly not a conversation I’ll be having with him any time soon.

“The only conversation is ‘are you OK?’ and sometimes we find people will give that facade of being OK, but what happened to him is not normal and heartbreaking for all involved.

“When the time is right, I believe he will make his decision and you will hear it from him.