Chadwick Boseman kept his cancer battle a secret as he didn't want people to ''fuss over him''.

The 'Black Panther' star passed away last week at the age of 43 last week, after having secretly battled colon cancer for four years.

And now, his longtime agent Michael Greene has said his decision to keep his diagnosis out of the public eye was partly influenced by his mother, Carolyn, who taught him not to make a fuss.

Michael said: ''[She] always taught him not to have people fuss over him. He also felt in this business that people trip out about things, and he was a very, very private person.''

Chadwick's personal trainer Addison Henderson also spoke about the star's health battle, insisting he didn't want to let his illness ''stop him from telling amazing stories''.

In a joint interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Addison explained: ''He was just living his artistic life to the fullest and using his time and his moment to really affect people. For us, it was just like, 'Let's keep going, let's keep doing what you want to do, let's keep training.' Chad had so much wisdom, so much knowledge, so much inside of him that he wasn't going to let this disease stop him from telling these amazing stories and showing his art in the prime of his life.''

Meanwhile, it was recently confirmed a sculpture of Chadwick will be erected in his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina, after thousands of fans signed a petition calling for a monument to be built.

The office for Mayor Terence Roberts has confirmed that the city is working on a way to honour Chadwick and has already spoken to an artist to work on something to honour the actor.

It is believed it will be a mixture of a sculpture and a mural with possible other art elements.