British boxer Anthony Yarde has announced his father has passed away from coronavirus
The 28-year-old light heavyweight revealed the sad news on his Instagram account in the early hours of Sunday morning, adding that his dad had no underlying health conditions.
Yarde urged everyone to stay at home and not spread the deadly virus further as the pandemic takes hold around the world.
British boxer Anthony Yarde has announced the sad news his father has died from coronavirus
Yarde made the announcement on his Instagram account and urged people to stay home
Yarde wrote: ‘I’m a very private person and TBH I’m still in shock but maybe this can help people stay home.
‘My Dad passed away from this virus yesterday and he was fit with no health issues. The more people go out and mingle the longer this isolation will last and the more it will spread.
‘I’m not a doctor but I do know if you stay home you are less likely to catch it or pass it on. It’s seriously not worth the risk.’
Yarde, 28, was set to fight Lyndon Arthur on the Dubois-Joyce undercard in London on April 11
Yarde (left) with Arthur (right) and promoter Frank Warren at a press conference this month
Yarde, 28, who hails from Hackney in east London, has fought professionally on 20 occasions, winning 19 of them.
His sole defeat came against the Russian Sergey Kovalev when competing for the WBO light heavyweight title in August 2019.
Yarde had been due to fight Lyndon Arthur for the Commonwealth light heavyweight title at the O2 Arena in London in April 11, on the undercard of another all-British contest between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce.
The event has been postponed because of the coronavirus crisis with British Boxing announcing all their events would be postponed until April 30 at the earliest.