A popular boxing coach died after collapsing in the ring during a charity fight in aid of a four-year-old girl battling cancer.
Jules Bevis, 55, collapsed at the event in Diamond Road, Norwich, just after 15:45 BST on Sunday, and died at the scene.
Officers had received reports of a sudden death after Mr. Bevis had become unwell during the event.
Police are now investigating the death, which they are calling “unexplained”.
Bevis was one of 30 boxers at the Fighting for Kayla event, which was raising money for a four-year-old girl, Kayla Buttle, who is battling Neuroblastoma Cancer.
On its website, the World Association of Wrestling (WAW) said the event would be “bringing back some of Norfolk’s favourite fighters from yesteryear to put on a boxing show for Kayla”.
Fighting for Kayla Boxing
Four year-old Norwich girl Kayla Buttle has Neuroblastoma cancer. Her family are faced with trying to raise £221,000 to send her to America for potentially life-saving vaccines. Danny Moloney and Glen Saffer are joining forces and bringing back some of Norfolk’s favourite fighters from yesteryear to put on a boxing show for Kayla. Their fight will be tough, Kayla’s is tougher…
Mr. Bevis’s niece, the wrestler Saraya-Jade “Paige” Bevis, tweeted: “Up until the end he had a heart of gold.”
Paige, who was originally from Norwich and became a WWE professional wrestler, wrote of her uncle: “He was doing a charity boxing match at my dads wrestling PC raising money for a little girl for her cancer treatments.”
She said he collapsed in the ring and died “in my brother Roy’s arms”.
Mr. Bevis’s brother, Ricky Knight, paid tribute to Jules in a video posted on Facebook.
He said: “First, I just want to thank everyone around the world who has sent messages to my family with reference to my brother Jules.
“We are still all in shock and we can’t understand what has happened.”
“But what I need to get out there to all the boxing people out there is it was not boxing that killed my brother last night.”
Mr. Knight went on to say there were no “big punches thrown” with the show being sparring sessions between ex-boxers.
“He collapsed,” Mr. Knight continued.
“But I have got to say the medical team up there – the WWA medic Nick Day and the rest of the team, all the Norfolk ambulance team and even the nurses and others in the audience tried to resuscitate my brother.”
