Former British boxing champion shares heartbreaking news after son found dead in his flat with family devastated
FORMER boxer Rendall Munroe has announced the tragic death of his son.
The former British super bantamweight champion shared the heartbreaking update on Sunday evening.
Munroe, known affectionately as The Boxing Binman, enjoyed a decade-long career in the ring.
He hung up his gloves in 2014 and formerly held the EBU and Commonwealth Super Bantamweight titles.
The 44-year-old, who is now a boxing trainer, took to his social media on Sunday to share a devastating personal update.
He revealed his son Tiela, who was in his mid-20s and a former youth footballer with Leicester City, had been found dead on October 25.
Munroe wrote on X: “Myself and [partner] Lisha have not said anything.
“But we think it’s time to say as people have heard but don’t know what to say or how to ask if it’s true.
“Friday 25th are[sic] first born Tiela was found in his flat dead.
“Myself, mum, brother and sister are heartbroken at this moment in time.”
Tiela was honoured during Thursday night boxing at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena, where Munroe’s fighter Sean Bruce was taking on Callum Singh.
Munroe hails from Leicester and spent the majority of his early career balancing his boxing with working as a bin man.
He eventually packed in his refuse work when he got the call to challenge Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC super-bantamweight title in Japan in 2010.
He recalled in an interview with talkSPORT: “Mike and Jay [Shinfield, my trainers] said to me, ‘Look, you need to concentrate more on the boxing now’.
“It was the wrong thing to do because I used to like being a ‘normal person’.
“I liked being a boxer for a training camp, eight weeks, and then I’m just Rendall, back on the bins – a normal guy.
“After [the Nishioka fight], everything became boxing. You’re bored in the daytime but can’t train because you’d over-train.
“I was always very active, so it messed me up a little. I started going for runs when I didn’t need to.
“When I retired [in 2014], I went back and they told me I had no job.”
Munroe finished his pro career with 28 wins from 34 fights, with 11 victories by KO.