Anthony Joshua praised for ‘unbelievable’ gesture towards grieving family --[Reported by Umva mag]

Former boxer Kevin Mitchell has revealed that Anthony Joshua generously paid for his brother’s funeral after he died in a motorbike crash aged 31.

Vinny Mitchell, also a professional boxer, amassed a 12-1 record between 2007 and 2010 before tragically dying in a motorcycle accident in April 2019.

The sudden passing of his brother left the family shocked and emotional, but also struggling to afford the cost of a funeral on such short notice.

Having set up a JustGiving page to raise funds, Mitchell said he and his family were left stunned when Joshua reached out personally to offer his condolences and ask whether he could foot the bill for the funeral.

Speaking on That Josh James Show, Mitchell said: ‘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.

Asked by podcast host Josh James if Joshua’s ‘unbelievable’ act was because he knew the brothers, the 39-year-old responded: ‘He knew us both. He knew my brother, he knew me, he knew my mum.

‘He rung me up when we was in the chapel of rest in Dagenham East and he said: “Kev, how are you? You’re a strong b****** aren’t you”.

‘I said, “You have to be Josh it’s life mate”. Then he was like, “Is your mum there? Can I speak to her please?”

‘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’ve all 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 up and down.

‘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.’

Kevin Mitchell, himself, enjoyed a hugely successful career, winning the British super featherweight title and the Commonwealth title during his 12 years as a pro boxer.

He twice challenged for the world lightweight title – in 2012 and 2015 – but came up short on both occasions before retiring from the sport in 2016 with a 39-4 record.

Joshua, meanwhile, appears to have no intentions of throwing in the towel on his own career despite his devastating knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois last month.

The two-time heavyweight champion has vowed to continue and could target a rematch against Dubois or a fight against Tyson Fury following his bout with Oleksandr Usyk at the end of this year.

The IBF, however, has stipulated that a rematch with Dubois would have to take place by April of next year.

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