Anthony Joshua delighted as auction raises £820 for young Telford boxer Dylan's funeral
World boxing champion Anthony Joshua spoke of his delight after hearing that his signed programme and shorts has raised £820 for the funeral of a young Shropshire boxer.
The sale, organised by Telford-based former champion Richie Woodhall, raised money for the funeral of Dylan Brassington, who died earlier this month at the age of 21.
Former world super-middleweight champion Richie holds regular auctions to raise money for cancer charities.
But he was so moved by the story of Dylan, who lived in Dawley, that he decided to donate this month's auction to the young boxer's funeral appeal.
Richie was helping Joshua with his training ahead of his world title fight with Joseph Parker next month when he was told how much the auction raised.
"I'm just over the moon," said Richie. "It will be such a big help with the funeral costs.
"It is a very sad time with us losing Dylan, but I'm so pleased that this will make such a difference."
Joshua, who holds the IBF, WBA and IBO heavyweight world titles, also spoke of his delight at the result.
"I'm so pleased, that's really great news," he said.
Dylan was a member of Wellington Boxing Academy where Richie is president.
Richie said he was shocked when he heard about Dylan's death on January 2, saying he had a bright future ahead of him.
"He was a very good boxer indeed," said Richie.
"He was a really good fighter, and a terrific lad. I couldn't believe it when I heard about his death."
The blue Geezer shorts and programme for Joshua's British and Commonwealth title fight against Dylan Whyte were sold as a single lot in the auction, held at Halls in Shrewsbury yesterday.
They had been estimated to fetch between £400 and £500.
Halls waived its usual fee.
Mo Fiaz of Wellington Boxing Academy, which is organising the fundraising effort for Dylan's funeral, said he was extremely grateful to everybody who had supported the auction.
"It's fantastic, I really want to thank everybody, particularly Richie Woodhall and Anthony Joshua for their support," he said.
Yesterday's sale also saw a boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali fetch £100.
The glove had been donated to Stoke-on-Trent rotary club in 1983, and was accompanied by a newspaper article from the time.
Richie's auctions have raised thousands of pounds for charities across Shropshire since he started holding them in memory of his father, Len, in 2015.
Len, who was a well-known boxing trainer in the Telford area, died in July 2015 aged 75 after a long-battle with prostate cancer.
