Honoring life of local boxer on #LiveLikeMike Day

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A 7-year-battle with cancer came to an end for Michael Carnell this month. He was a local boxer in the fight of a lifetime against cancer.

Mike's family and friends say they will remember him for his Michael Jackson dance moves, for his skills in the boxing ring but above all, his kindness.

"Michael was so giving, so loving and gave to other people," said his sister Wanisha Carnell.

His mother says as a child, he quite literally gave people the clothes off his back and the shoes off of his feet. It's why his loved ones feel it's fitting to remember him every year by asking people to #LiveLikeMike.

"Just do a kind gesture for somebody," said his mother Lavette Carney. "Give someone a bottle of water. Buy a meal for somebody. Every 21st of February, that will take place."

It was seven years ago that Mike and his family first learned that he'd face his toughest opponent yet -- a sarcoma tumor in one of his legs.

"Multiple chemotherapies, multiple surgeries, multiple radiation treatments," said Mike's mother.

Cancer treatment kept him from training and out of the ring. But his sisters say it didn't keep him from promoting and advocating for women in the sport.

"Even though he could no longer fight and didn't let cancer define him, he took that on," said sister Casandra Taylor.

He started a foundation to visit hospitals and motivate others, Fight Mike Fight.

"And that is exactly what he did," said Carney. "He fought until the end."

Earlier this month, after multiple blood transfusions, his mom says cancer had spread through all of his organs.

"He said, 'I am going to be with the lord.' Michael went home at 11:48 that night," said Carney.

He passed away the day after his 36th birthday. It was a loss felt by people in the boxing community near and far.

"I was getting calls from Paris, Switzerland," his mother said. "People said, 'You don't know me, but I knew Mike.'"

On the first-ever #LiveLikeMike Day, his friends headed to Trader Joe's in Clovis where Mike used to work to hand out gift cards, chocolate, and pray over complete strangers. They spread kindness, just like Mike.