In a heartwarming act, Anthony Joshua covered the funeral costs for the brother of ex-boxer Kevin Mitchell.
Mitchell, who held the British super featherweight title in 2008 and the Commonwealth title from 2006 to 2008, also twice vied for the world lightweight title before retiring after consecutive losses to Jorge Linares and Ismael Barroso in 2015. Mitchell has now shared a poignant tale about Joshua’s kindness towards his younger brother. Vinny, Mitchell’s sibling who was also a professional boxer, tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 2019 at just 31 years old.
Kevin disclosed how heavyweight champion Joshua personally reached out to him and his mother following the accident, expressing his condolences and offering to fund the funeral. Mitchell remembered it as a challenging period for the family, fraught with stress as they grappled with how to finance the funeral and keep up with their mortgage payments. It was then that Joshua stepped in to lend a hand, reports the Irish Mirror.
Speaking to Josh Jamesy, Mitchell recounted a personal story about Joshua’s kindness that he hadn’t shared before: “He had so much pressure on him Josh, and let me tell you something – I’ve not said this to anyone before on podcast – but he paid for my brother’s funeral.”
Recalling the call from Joshua, Kevin added: “Both. He knew my brother, he knew me, he knew my mum. He rung me up when we were in the chapel of rest in Dagenham East and he said ‘Kev, how are you? You’re a strong b****** aren’t you.’ I replied, ‘You have to be Josh it’s life mate’. Then he asked, ‘Is your mum there? Can I speak to her please?”.
Reflecting on a time of grief, he went on: “As we’re sitting around the table grieving – bad emotions and we’re all about to kick off – and we’re all worried about burying my brother, how will we get money, we got mortgages to pay, no one’s working but the bills have still got to be paid so we’re all aggressive and hot tempered, your emotions are like that.”
Kevin then described Joshua’s generous offer: “I was so stressed, I was under a lot of pressure and he went, ‘Alice, do you mind if I get it? ‘ She said, ‘What do you mean? ‘ My mum didn’t quite hear him. And he went, ‘I’m going to pay for his funeral Alice if you don’t mind and he paid for it.”
While Mitchell has hung up his gloves, Joshua is gearing up for a fierce rematch having been bested by ‘Dynamite’ Daniel Dubois, who secured victory with a knockout in the fifth round in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. Talks are ongoing for the rematch to headline a huge bill in February.
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