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Anthony Joshua made a generous gesture by paying for the funeral of Vinny Mitchell, brother of former world title challenger Kevin Mitchell.
Vinny, who also boxed professionally, died in a motorcycle accident in 2019 at the age of 31, leaving his family and friends shocked.
Kevin shared how Joshua's kindness came during an emotionally and financially stressful time for his family, describing it as “amazing.”
The British heavyweight star personally reached out to Kevin's mother after the accident, offering his support and paying for the funeral expenses.
Kevin, who held the British super featherweight title in 2008 and the Commonwealth title between 2006 and 2008, said the gesture meant a lot to them.
Anthony Joshua made a generous gesture by paying for the funeral of Vinny Mitchell, the brother of former world title challenger Kevin Mitchell.
Kevin (pictured right) shared how Joshua's kindness came during an emotionally and financially stressful time for his family, describing it as “amazing.”
Vinny (left) punches East Ham's Johnny Greaves (right) during their lightweight competition in the York Corridor on October 9, 2009.
Speaking to Jose James, Mitchell said: 'He had a lot of pressure on him, Josh, and let me tell you something (I haven't said this to anyone before on the podcast), but he paid for my brother's funeral.
When asked if Joshua knew him or his brother, Mitchell said, “He knew us both.” He knew my brother, he knew me, he knew my mother.
“He called me when we were in the chapel of rest in Dagenham East and said: “Kev, how are you? “You’re a strong idiot, aren’t you?”
“I told him, 'You have to be Josh, he's your life partner.' Then he said to me: “Is your mother there? “Can I talk to her, please?”
“While we are sitting around the table crying – bad emotions and we are all about to leave – and we are all worried about burying my brother, how are we going to get money? We have mortgages to pay, no one is working but the bills still have to be paid, so we are all aggressive and short tempered, your emotions are up and down.
“I was very stressed, under a lot of pressure, and he said, “Alice, do you mind if I get it?” She said, “What do you mean?” My mom didn't hear it at all. And he said, “I'm going to pay for his funeral, Alice, if you don't mind,” and he paid for it.
Joshua plans to keep fighting, despite suffering the fourth loss of his professional career against Daniel Dubois (pictured above).
Dubois knocked out Joshua in the fifth round of their IBF heavyweight title fight at Wembley.
Dubois celebrated with his IBF heavyweight title in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
Kevin, who fought for the world lightweight title in 2012 and 2015, retired from boxing in 2016 after losing his last two fights by technical knockout.
Meanwhile, Joshua plans to keep fighting, despite suffering the fourth loss of his professional career against Daniel Dubois last month.
The Watford-born fighter was knocked out in the fifth round at Wembley in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley by his 27-year-old domestic rival.
The result allowed Dubois to retain his IBF heavyweight title, having knocked down his challenger four times during the highly anticipated fight.