Tyson Fury has paid tribute to Anthony Joshua’s two “close friends” and members of his team after the pair were confirmed dead following a fatal car crash in Nigeria.

Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele are believed to have been travelling in the same Lexus Jeep as Mr Joshua when it collided with a stationary truck by the side of a busy highway of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway at 11am local time on Monday, according to reports.

British heavyweight boxer Mr Fury, with whom Mr Joshua has feuded for years, is among a number of rivals who have sent messages to Mr Joshua and paid tribute to his two friends. Sharing a post about the pair’s deaths on his Instagram story on Tuesday, Mr Fury wrote: “This is so sad. May God give them a good bed in heaven”.

Mr Ayodele, otherwise known as Latz, was seen playing table tennis with Mr Joshua hours before the collision. Known as healthy_mindset on social media, he has been by Mr Joshua's side over the last decade of his career.

Mr Ghami is a physio in the boxer’s team and a friend of Mr Joshua, who is reportedly in a stable condition and has spoken to his family, but was rushed to hospital after he suffered minor injuries in the crash.

The British boxer, a former two-time world heavyweight champion who is also of Nigerian heritage, was holidaying in Africa just 10 days after his high-profile fight with Jake Paul.