The revelation was made to the Boxing Hall of Famer the same day he laid his wife to rest.
A British man who was adopted at birth has discovered he is the only biological child of legendary boxing commentator Bob Sheridan.
Simon Edwards, 40, who works as a soccer steward at non-league Hitchin Town FC and lives with his adoptive parents, is now the sole heir to Sheridan's quarter of a billion dollar fortune.
Edwards tracked down his birth family to Galway, Ireland in 2019, where he learned the sad news that his birth mother Rosemary Ruane, had died in 1985, The Sun reported.
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View StoryShe had worked as a hotel manager on land owned by a wealthy American family, and in 1979, a member of that family, described as an "Irish-American baseball player", visited the hotel, and the pair had a fling.
That baseball player went on to become the "Voice of Boxing" Bob "The Colonel" Sheridan, the Boxing Hall of Famer whose unmistakable voice has called the likes of Muhamad Ali's Rumble in the Jungle and Thrilla in Manilla, and 10,000 other fights besides.
"I always dreamed of being reunited with my long lost father," Edwards told The Sun. "As a boxing fan I knew exactly who he was, so it was fair to say it came as a pretty big shock. It’s just been so wonderful getting to know him."
"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."
As for Sheridan, he is overjoyed to have discovered he has a long lost son.
"I was lost for words when I was told, I have spent every day on the phone with Colonel Jnr," he said.
"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. I can't wait to just have a beer with my son and getting to know him. I love him more than words express."
"The first time I spoke to him I knew he was my boy. He sounds like me, he talks the same way as me."
In yet another incredible turn of events, the revelation was made to him the same day he laid his wife to rest.
After returning home from her funeral, he said "I got home and had a Guinness and I really felt like I had nothing left in my life."
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View Story"Then I got a call from an agency saying, 'You have a 41-year-old son - and I said 'are you sure?' They said all you have to do is see him once and you'll know he's your son. He looks just like you, he's a great athlete like you.
"I was thinking, an hour ago I had nothing to live for - now I have a son."
"I asked how did this happen? Then I remembered this lovely girl I had been dating before I met my wife."
After his brief affair with "Rosie", who was one of nine daughters from the same Catholic family, she became pregnant — unbeknownst to him — and she travelled to London to give birth and give him up for adoption, a not entirely-unheard of practice in Catholic Ireland.
He was adopted by retired British Aerospace scientist Mike Edwards and former healthcare worker Sue, who Simon still considers his "real parents". He said they were fully supportive of him tracking down his biological family.
"My mum and dad here are over the moon," Simon said. "They've always said if I wanted to find them they would be behind me."
Sheridan confirmed the relationship had been verified through DNA testing, and that his son is now the "only heir to my fortune" — estimated to be around the $275million mark.
"It's just been such a blessing, I can't wait to meet him and take him to meet my brother’s family in Boston," he added. "I only wish my wife had lived to see our son."
With the revelation, Sheridan also gains two granddaughters: Keira, nine and Scarlette, four.