Non league steward discovers long-lost Dad is US boxing legend

A non league steward discovers that his long-lost Dad is in fact an a US boxing legend, which has stunned supporters from across the world.

Articles emerged claiming that Simon Edwards, Hitchin Town steward, 40, who was adopted as a baby, is the sole heir to the sum of money after discovering his long-lost father is legendary boxing commentator ‘The Colonel’ Bob Sheridan.

Sheridan, 76, is a veteran of such fights as the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ among many others, and is in daily contact with his long-lost son.

Now referring to himself as Colonel Junior, Edwards is planning a trip to Las Vegas to finally meet his dad in person.

Having just buried his wife, Sheridan was apparently overjoyed to learn that he had a son from a previous relationship, though it remains to be seen if he’ll attend any Hitchin Town games in the future.

Edwards, based in Hertfordshire and lives with his adoptive parents, made the discovery about his birth parents after tracking down extended family in Galway, Ireland, and taking a DNA test.

He said: ‘We’ve been talking on the phone every day and I’m thinking this kid is more like me than I am. Here’s a baby boy that I can go and get hammered with.’

However, claims that non league steward Simon is in line to inherit the boxing commentator’s £200m fortune are apparently not true, with his birth father saying recently he has never been a millionaire because he ‘spent it on booze and women. And the rest? Oh, I suppose I just blew it.’

He currently lives in a rented suburban home out in Vegas, after being declared bankrupt in 2014, seems someone in the media has been doing some lazy reporting regarding his wealthiness.

Simon Edwards found that his birth mother Rosemary, who died in 1985, was from County Clare, Ireland. She had a relationship with Mr Sheridan while working in a ‘fancy hotel’ close to where the commentator spent a summer driving cattle in Bunratty, near Shannon in Ireland.

Simon was born in Newham, East London, in 1980 and was handed to a Catholic charity because Rosemary wasn’t married before being adopted by British Aerospace scientist Mike Edwards and his wife Sue, who is a healthcare worker.

Sheridan said on discovering that he had a son just minutes after returning from his wife Annie’s funeral: ‘Holy sufferin’ cats. I went from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high in just one hour’.

Edwards, a 40-year-old father-of-two, got in touch with Bob ‘The Colonel’ Sheridan just as the he laid his wife of 26 years to rest. The couple had no children of their own.

Boston-born Sheridan has commentated on over 10,000 fights for the media including the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974 and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.

Simon has now adopted the nickname ‘Colonel Jnr’ and will meet his birth father for the first time in Las Vegas in June.

On realising he had a secret son, Sheridan said: ‘About 30 people came back to my house where I had a pint of Guinness. Then I got a call from people high up in the Government and they told me without question that I have a 41-year-old son named Simon Edwards.

‘We have talked on the phone every day. It is an inspiration in life for me. They took away my wife and the same day they gave me my long-lost son. I had no idea this boy existed. I was lost for words when I was told, I have spent every day on the phone with Colonel Jnr. It has given me a new lease of life and I’m looking forward to the reunion with junior in Las Vegas later this year.’

‘The agency that called me we have done a background investigation and this is a terrific kid who is a practicing Catholic and is also a star athlete. He has all his own money and he doesn’t need you for money, he just wants to meet his father. I am flying him to Las Vegas on my birthday in June.

‘I bought his ticket to travel first class from London to Las Vegas on the 21st of June. Everyone in my family is excited. On the 22nd of June is my birthday. We will have my party and Simon’s coming home party’.

Bob Sheridan adds that when Simon first contacted him his reaction so soon after his wife’s death was: ‘I couldn’t believe it – I had a 41-year-old son I can take him out and travel the world and have a few pints with him and he’s coming over to Vegas for my birthday in June and we’ll go and see the rest of the family in Boston. We’ve been talking on the phone every day and I’m thinking this kid is more like me than I am. Here’s a baby boy that I can go and get hammered with’.

Simon, a cost controller who also works part-time as a non league steward for Hitchin Town, has been shocked by the events that unfolded, that his long-lost Dad is a US boxing legend.

He told MailOnline: ‘It is an amazing story. Growing up I always look at my adoptive parents in Hitchin as my mum and dad and hadn’t really looked into my background.

‘Then a couple of years ago, after having two daughters myself, I started thinking I need to try and discover my past. Through a Galway genealogist, I tracked down my mum’s side of the family.

‘They were lovely, all in Galway, and they accepted me as part of the family. We had a great week at the Galway races. My mum had nine sisters and one brother, so I had a lot of cousins and uncles and aunts.

‘Unfortunately she passed away when I was five years old. I saw my birth certificate and saw her name and also Bob Sheridan. I love football and cricket but the name didn’t stand out as I’ve not even been to America.

‘Then I got an email from my aunt at the end of last year saying that your birth father’s wife Annie has passed away – it’s a small place and everyone knows everyone somehow.

‘So I emailed Dad and said ‘sorry for your loss’ – I wasn’t even expecting a reply. Then he emailed me back, said what’s your number, gave us a call and the rest is history.’

Simon contacted Bob about their connection on the day his laid his wife Annie to rest.

He said: ‘I just emailed him to say I was sorry for his loss. From there, he asked for my number and we have been speaking on the phone every day.

‘To other people it must seem amazing that this famous person is my dad, but for me it’s amazing to just know who my dad is and be in touch with him.

‘I’d probably still be as blown-away if he was a plumber from down the road.’

He said to his local newspaper the Hitchin Comet: ‘My adopted parents are from Irish and Liverpool backgrounds, and I grew up in Hitchin. I hadn’t really looked at getting in touch with my birth parents.

Bob Sheridan’s wife Annie is laid to rest in Las Vegas. On the same day he learns that he has a son in Britain, describing it as the best and worst day of his life.

‘My birth mum passed away in 1985, she had nine sisters and one brother – huge family out there – and they filled me in. It was a lovely trip, they really accepted me as part of the family.’

He is now going to be flying over to the United States to meet his birth father.

‘All of a sudden all these superstars who are friends of his want to meet me,’ he said.

‘I went to Irish professional boxer Steve Collins’ house, and it turns out he knew my mum as well, and have had other big names get in touch.

‘Bob’s sent me some tickets to go out to Vegas for his birthday in June. From there, I’ll be flying all over America.

‘It’s all very exciting – but I’m trying to take it all in my stride. My mum and dad here are over the moon – they’ve always said if I wanted to find them they would be behind me.’

They all can’t wait to meet each other following this new discovery – being a non league steward in Hitchin and then discovers having a long-lost Dad who is a US boxing legend.