When Anthony Joshua stepped into the ring against Jake Paul in Miami on Friday – on Netflix – his presence in that Kaseya Arena meant more to one man than just about anyone else.

For seven years Dave Harris at the Ringside Charitable Trust has been on a mission to make life better for retired fighters who need help. He has worked round the clock – often largely ignored – trying to raise funds to build a charity that supports fighters when and, ideally, before they desperately require it.

And, on Friday, Anthony Joshua – 3,000 miles away in Florida – wore the charity’s logo proudly on his chest, on the jacket he wore to the ring.

“I was proud of him for doing it and I was proud of Ringside Charitable Trust because what we’ve done does an awful lot of good,” said Harris.

He’s not wrong. For seven years, Harris has driven the charity and helped organize dozens of fundraising events. No one in boxing has gone ‘all-in’ to support him – or at least none of the powerbrokers – but still he has kept going. His stubbornness was due a reward.

“He said he would do it,” said Harris of Joshua, “and he was true to his word.”

The goal of Ringside Charitable Trust is to build a care home for retired fighters, but it does so much more in trying to look after fallen stars who now need help.

They’ve recently funded support for a fighter who attempted suicide a couple of weeks after Ricky Hatton claimed his own life. They’ve paid for stairlifts and had them installed into fighters’ homes who have needed them. They’ve assembled care packages for boxers who have required emergency assistance. 

Harris keeps going, and the support of Joshua has only fuelled him more.

“When I saw the size of that logo on his top, I couldn’t believe it,” beamed Harris. “I thought, ‘He’s really done us proud.’ That’s been seen all over the world now.”

Harris isn’t just pleased Joshua has shown his support because AJ’s a huge ‘brand’ in his own right, but because of who AJ is; clean cut, professional and he wants to genuinely help retired fighters.

“That’s exactly right,” said Harris. “He’s wholesome, he’s decent and he cares about boxers in retirement. This is just the start.”