Hugo Santillan, a 23-year-old boxer from Argentina, has passed away due to injuries suffered in a 10-round fight with Uruguayan champion Eduardo Abreu. While awaiting the decision — which turned out to be a draw — Santillan collapsed to the mat.
Santillan’s death comes just five days after his fight.
“We join Hugo’s family and friends in grief, support and wish prompt resignation,” the World Boxing Council said in a statement.
Immediately following the fight and as Santillan’s unconscious body lay in the ring, the medical staff rushed in and immediately administered oxygen to the boxer. He was ultimately taken out of the ring on a stretcher and later underwent emergency surgery for a brain clot.
CBS Sports adds that following the surgery for his brain clot the 23-year-old “had two cardiorespiratory arrests, with Dr. Graciela Olocco, of the Hospital of San Nicolás, confirming to The Nation on Thursday that the boxer “never left the coma.”
Hugo Santillan had a professional boxing record of 19-6-2 with 8 knockouts.
Santillan becomes the second boxer to die from in-fight injuries this week.
On Tuesday, July 23, junior welterweight Maxim Dadashev passed away after an 11th-round technical knockout loss to Subriel Matias. Dadashev’s trainer Buddy McGirt was begging the fighter to allow him to stop the fight before he ultimately made the decision to have the doctors call it off. Dadashev was just 28 years old and had a 13-1 record with 11 knockouts while fighting under the Top Rank banner. His wife found out about his passing while flying from Russia in an effort to be by his side. Dadashev was managed by Egis Klimas who also represents the likes of Vasiliy Lomachenko and Sergey Kovalev
Our deepest condolences go out to the families of both young men as they deal with these incredibly difficult and untimely tragedies.
