British boxing great Nigel Benn reveals coronavirus heartbreak
BRITISH boxing great Nigel Benn revealed on Instagram that one of his brothers Mark has died of coronavirus.
The 56-year-old – former wor l d c h a mpion a t t wo weights – said Mark had been the “Joker” of the family.
It came as the number of UK coronavirus-related deaths climbed by 621 to 4,934 and infections rose by 5,903 to 47,806.
“My brother Mark passed Away 2day [Covid 19], as we all were growing up Mark was the Joker of the Benn house hold,” he wrote.
“May he Rest In Peace love u Mark.’”
Benn – whose 23-year-old son Conor is a promising pugilist with an unblemished record – was one of seven boys but lost his older brother Andy when he fell out of a window aged just eight.
Benn was dubbed the ‘Dark Destroyer’ for his aggressive style and enjoyed a fierce rivalry with compatriots Chris Eubank and Michael Watson.
Benn won the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and then went on to become WBC super-middleweight champion holding the belt between 1992 and 1996 – losing his crown to South African Thulani Malinga.
He retired from the ring in 1996 after twice failing to wrest the WBO super-middleweight title from Irishman
Stephen Collins.
Benn is not the first from the sport in Britain to lose a relative due to the coronavirus.
The grandmother and father of British light-heavyweight Anthony Yarde died within a few days of each other.
The 28-year-old made an emotional appeal to the public to “just stay home” to avoid the r i s k of spreading the virus.
“It’s serious!” Yarde wrote on social media.
“People are still going out when they don’t need to. I know there’s a lot of opinions about Covid-19 and I have mine but I just know opinions ain’t worth risking your life and others. Just stay home.”