Argentine boxer Hugo Alfredo Santillan died on Thursday in Buenos Aires of injuries suffered in his fight on Saturday against Eduardo Javier Abreu, Dr. Graciela Olocco from Hospital Agudos San Felipe confirmed to local media.
Santillan was 23.
He becomes the second boxer this week to die from injuries sustained in the ring.
Maxim Dadashev of Russia died on Tuesday after suffering a similar brain injury during a fight Friday in Maryland against Subriel Matias of Puerto Rico. Dadashev was 28.
According to ringside reports from Buenos Aires ( via ESPN.com ), Santillan's nose began to bleed in the fourth round of Saturday's 10-round bout and, though he raised his arm in victory after the fight, he collapsed after the judges announced the fight as a draw.
Santillan, nicknamed "Dynamite," underwent surgery for a clot on his brain and twice went into cardiorespiratory failure before he died of cardiac arrest at 12:35 a.m. Thursday local time Thursday, Olocco confirmed.
“Upon admission to the hospital, he had successive kidney failure and he did not come out of his coma,” Olocco said ( via The Guardian ). “He had swelling of his brain and he never recovered consciousness. The swelling continued to worsen, and it affected the functioning of the rest of his organs.”
The WBC expressed its condolences, tweeting, in part, "We join Hugo's family and friends in grief."
A super lightweight, Santillan — the son of former boxer Alfredo Santillan — made his pro debut in 2015 and was 19-6-2 with eight KOs.
Comments
SHARE