The boxing world was shaken for the second time this week when Argentine boxer Hugo Santillan died after being injured in Saturday’s fight with Uruguayan champion Eduardo Abreu.
Russian boxer Maxim Dadashev died Tuesday after undergoing emergency brain surgery for a subdural hematoma sustained in his fight with Subriel Matias.
The World Boxing Council said in a statement Thursday, “We have received the very, very sad news of the death of the 23-year-old Argentine fighter Hugo Santillán, which happened today at the San Felipe Hospital in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires.”
Santillan passed out after the fight as the judges were announcing the decision, which was a draw. He was taken to San Felipe Hospital, where he was admitted with successive kidney failure, ESPN reported.
Santillan’s brain was swelling, which affected the rest of his organs, and he never regained consciousness. He underwent surgery for a clot in his brain and went into cardiorespiratory failure twice before dying of cardiac arrest, according to ESPN.
“The World Boxing Council and its President, Mauricio Sulaimán Saldívar, send Hugo’s family and friends their deepest condolences, at this time of deepest grief,” the council said. “Rest in peace Dear Champion.”
