Kin ‘incredibly proud’ of their beloved fighter

Boxer Patrick Day, long before his final and fatal defeat inside the ring, found his life’s calling when he laced up the gloves.

“Boxing brought Patrick many joyous moments of accomplishments that he was able to relish personally and celebrate with his family,” his heartbroken brother Jean told mourners Saturday at the fighter’s crowded Long Island funeral. “Boxing transformed Patrick from a shy, aimless kid to a focused, goal-driven man.”

The 27-year-old Patrick, a three-time Daily News Golden Gloves champion as an amateur, was remembered fondly at a service where none of his three brothers laid blame on the sport that saw their sibling carried from the ring on a stretcher after an Oct. 12 knockout. The super welterweight fighter died four days later at a Chicago hospital.

The service began with a memorial video following Day from childhood through adulthood, featuring family photos and shots from his boxing career. Older brother Michael, in his eulogy, even recounted wishing his kid brother success shortly before the doomed fighter climbed into the ring for the last time.

“Little did I know that my life would be changed forever in the days that came,” said

Michael at the funeral inside the World Life Ministries in Freeport, L.I. “I still remember when he won his very first tournament at Harlem’s Apollo Theater as a young amateur. I was upstate at college at the time, looking at the pictures of his triumph.

“And I was just so incredibly proud.”

Day, a two-time national amateur champion, suffered a traumatic brain injury when dropped by a vicious left hook from undefeated fighter Charles Conwell. But his brothers focused on Patrick’s life as a loving sibling, a great uncle and a true inspiration, while church pastor Greg SaintJean honored the man who typically sat in the church’s fifth row for services.

“One of the greatest human beings I’ve ever encountered,” said SaintJean. “In my heart, his memory will last forever.”

Jean Day recalled that Patrick was never passionate about sports, preferring to watch his favorite film “King Kong Vs. Godzilla” four times a day, until he became a boxer as a teenager.

“Patrick’s achievements in the ring gave him an identity, a reason to walk with his chin up,” his father said.

Brother Bernard recalled his sibling as a man who was passionate about his family and his sport.

“I love you, champion,” he said in closing. “Enjoy your stay in paradise.”