Toronto boxer among two Canadians killed in Dubai Ferrari crash that took the lives of four people

Soon after arriving in Dubai a few days ago, Cody Nixon couldn’t resist mugging for the camera in his rental car, a low-slung, open-roof Ferrari.

“Just landed into Dubai picked up the Ferrari! Don’t worry I won’t speed ;)” he wrote on Instagram.

Nixon, 24, was travelling with his good buddy and cousin, James Portuondo, 27. The Toronto men shared a passion for cars, sun-splashed beaches and adventure.

“They ride on whims. They get ideas and they’re there,” Chris Guerin, a friend of both, said Monday.

“They lived life to the fullest; there was no holding back. Money wasn’t an issue. They were striking off their bucket lists.”

But their live-in-the-moment lifestyle ended in tragedy early Sunday when the Ferrari they were in reportedly slammed into a lamppost, cleaving the yellow sports car in two. Both were killed.

Police in Dubai told The National newspaper that the person behind the wheel was driving recklessly in a 60 kilometres per hour zone.

Two women were also killed in the crash, the newspaper reported. Their identities could not be confirmed Monday.

Boston’s Northeastern University issued a statement announcing students Victoria McGrath and Priscilla Perez Torres had been killed in a car accident in Dubai while on a personal trip. It could not be confirmed if the crash was related to the one involving the Canadian men.

McGrath, 23, made headlines in 2013 when she was seriously injured by shrapnel during the Boston Marathon bombing.

A Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman confirmed the deaths of two Canadians in the United Arab Emirates and said consular officials were helping the families.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the two Canadians who have lost their lives,” Mohammed Saif Helal Al Shehhi , the UAE’s ambassador to Canada, said in a statement.

“My heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families and friends of these two individuals.”

Portuondo was ambitious, charismatic and loved by many, said Michael Hastie, his long-time friend.

“How can somebody who was so alive be taken so quickly?” he asked.

Portuondo graduated from Fanshawe College in London, Ont., in business marketing. The “jack of all trades” worked in his family’s transport truck-repair business and was taking courses to get his mechanics licence, friends said.

He also had an entrepreneurial streak and had patents pending related to truck safety.

But Portuondo also knew how to have a good time.

Guerin said Portuondo had asked him if he wanted to come along on the trip just before he left.

That’s the way he rolled, Guerin said.

“He’ll call you on a Wednesday and ask, ‘Want to go to Cuba on Friday?’ ”

Portuondo was co-founder of Empire Entertainment, a promotional company in Toronto’s nightlife.

But the man was responsible, another friend said.

“I don’t want everyone to think of him as a party animal,” John Vernon said, noting he would skip parties to attend his nieces’ dance recitals.

Nixon, meanwhile, was known in Ontario’s boxing circles.

He was a former member of the Motor City Boxing in Oshawa and represented Ontario at the Canadian Boxing Championships in 2012, the CBC reported.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we bid farewell to Cody “C-4” Nixon,” the club said in a Facebook post. “Cody lost his life yesterday while vacationing overseas. RIP Cody.”

Nixon was planning to compete in the Ontario Golden Gloves tournament in April, friend and boxing coach Brock Arthur told CP24. He described Nixon’s style in boxing and in life as “flashy.”

On Instagram, Nixon invited people to follow him on his “epic journey” around the world. The photo-sharing site contained pictures of him lounging on beaches next to turquoise waters, jumping out of a plane over Aruba, and scuba diving in the Dominican Republic.

In a recent video post showing him off-roading in a Jeep and jet-skiing, he implored visitors to “Live everyday as (if) it was your last.”