List of deaths due to injuries sustained in boxing


The following is a list of deaths due to injuries sustained in boxing. In February 1995, it was estimated that "approximately 500 boxers have died in the ring or as a result of boxing since the Marquess of Queensberry Rules were introduced in 1884." 22 boxers died in 1953 alone.
Date of fightNameNationalityOpponentOpponent's nationalityDetails
13 December 1926Daniel MarshallUKJoshua Lloyd-DoyleUKDied one day following his first professional fight due to injuries sustained.
25 August 1930Frankie CampbellMax BaerCampbell was knocked unconscious in the ring and died hours later in the hospital. Doctors discovered that his brain had been knocked loose from the connective tissue inside his head.
10 February 1933Ernie SchaafPrimo CarneraSuffered a knockout loss in the 13th round and immediately fell unconscious. He would go into a coma, and was rushed to the hospital to undergo surgery where he ultimately died four days later on Valentine's Day.
16 July 1940Peter AseroPete MuscarneraSeemingly on his way to victory by knocking out Muscarnera to the count of nine in the first round, Asero suffered a knockout in the fourth round. He never revived. Heart attack was given as the cause of death by the Athletic Commission.
24 June 1947Jimmy DoyleSugar Ray RobinsonDied 17 hours after being knocked out.
2 February 1948Sam BaroudiEzzard CharlesKilled by a punch from a future heavyweight champion.
19 September 1949Archie KempAustraliaJack HassenAustraliaKemp was carried from the ring on a stretcher and did not regain consciousness, dying of a cerebral haemorrhage. Referee Joe Wallis refused to stop the fight.
22 February 1950Lavern RoachGeorgie SmallLavern sustained a fatal head injury during the match and died the next day due to a subdural hemorrhage.
20 December 1950Sonny Boy WestPercy BassettWest suffered from inter-cerebral hemorrhage resulting from a cerebral concussion and died the following day.
12 December 1954Ed SandersWillie JamesComplained of headaches early in the day. Lost consciousness in the 11th round. Died after a long surgery to relieve bleeding in the brain.
24 March 1962Benny ParetUSEmile GriffithUSSee Benny Paret vs. Emile Griffith III; Paret died of brain injuries 10 days later.
21 March 1963Davey MooreUSSugar RamosMoore collapsed in the dressing room after the fight, and died 75 hours later.
11 March 1969Ulrich RegisTRIJoe BugnerUKRegis died four days after the fight following surgery to remove a blood clot.
2 February 1972Mick PinkneyUKJim MooreUKPinkney was knocked out in the fifth round and died after choking on his own blood.
19 July 1978Angelo JacopucciITAAlan MinterUKJacopucci did not collapse in the ring; he and Minter met for a meal after the fight. Jacopucci then fell into a coma and died. As a result of this, European title fights were limited to 12 rounds.
23 November 1979Willie ClaasenUSWilford ScypionUSDied following the fight.
9 January 1980Charles NewellUSMarlon StarlingUSDied after being knocked out in the 7th round.
20 June 1980Cleveland DennyGUYGaétan HartCANDied 16 days after being knocked out.
19 September 1980Johnny OwenUKLupe PintorMEXOwen was knocked out and died six weeks later without regaining consciousness.
7 May 1982Andy BalabaHi-Sup ShinDied of injuries suffered in the fight.
14 June 1982Young AliNGABarry McGuiganIRLCollapsed in the ring, fell into a coma, and died from a blood clot two days later.
13 November 1982Kim Duk-kooRay ManciniUSKim died four days after the fight. As a result of this, world championship fights were limited to 12 rounds.
1 September 1983Francisco BejinesMEXAlberto DávilaUSDied of brain injuries.
29 May 1985Shawn ThomasUSChris CalvinUSDied of head injuries.
2 November 1985Jacob MorakeBrian MitchellDied of head injuries.
29 November 1985Gerardo DerbezMEXJorge VacaMEXKnocked out and fell into a coma; died from brain injuries.
14 March 1986Steve WattUKRocky KellyUKDied of brain injuries.
27 February 1987Jean-Claude VinciFRALionel JeanFRAVinci lost the fight on points, and died 30 minutes later.
14 June 1988Brian BaronetKenny ViceUSFell into a coma after being knocked out and died 3 days later.
13 August 1988Daniel TheteleAaron WilliamsCollapsed without regaining consciousness and died.
4 March 1989David ThioCIVTerrence AlliUSKnocked out and died 10 days later.
17 August 1990Pat StoneAUSGary WillsAUSDied of brain injuries the day after the fight.
27 May 1991Patrick MdinisoMongezi MbaduDied after being knocked unconscious.
17 November 1991Clive SikwebuNdoda MayendeDied nine days after being knocked out.
1 December 1991Minoru KatsumataTakashi MurataDied after being knocked out in the 10th round. It was his first professional fight.
26 April 1994Bradley StoneUKRichie WentonUKDied from a blood clot.
22 July 1994Robert WangilaKENDavid GonzalezUSDied after an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain.
6 May 1995Jimmy GarciaCOLGabriel RuelasMEXDied 13 days later, due to a blood clot on the brain.
12 October 1995James MurrayUKDrew DochertyUKMurray collapsed in the final round and died the next day.
13 December 1997Felix BwalyaZAMPaul BurkeUKWas knocked down three times in the final rounds; died 9 days later.
12 September 1999Randie CarverUSKabary SalemEGYCarver was headbutted repeatedly during the early rounds. He lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital. Carver died two days later from blunt head trauma.
20 October 2000Bobby TomaselloUSSteve DotseGHATomasello collapsed in his dressing room after a 10-round draw. He fell into a coma from which he never awoke, dying five days later.
23 June 2002Pedro AlcázarPANFernando MontielMEXAlcazar was declared healthy by ringside doctors, with no visible signs of any trauma. Collapsed in his hotel room the following day and died in hospital.
18 July 2003Brad RoneUSBilly ZumbrunUSHe turned around to walk to his corner following the 1st round when he collapsed, dying instantly. An autopsy later revealed Rone had died of a heart attack.
1 July 2005Martín SánchezMEXRustam NugaevRUSAfter the fight, a commission inspector noticed Sánchez walking strangely, he was rushed to a local hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for a subdural hematoma. He died the following morning.
17 September 2005Leavander JohnsonUSJesús ChávezMEXJohnson collapsed in the locker room following the fight and was taken to hospital where he was placed in a medically induced coma following surgery to correct a subdural hematoma. He died on 22 September 2005
18 March 2006Kevin PayneUSRyan MaraldoUSPayne died the following day following surgery after suffering a brain injury during the fight.
31 March 2007Lito SisnorioPHIChatchai SasakulSustained brain injuries during the fight and died the next day in hospital. The fight was deemed controversial as Sisnorio's role in the fight was not officially sanctioned by the Philippine Games and Amusement Board.
25 December 2007Choi Yo-samHeri AmolINAHe collapsed while still in the ring after the bout and was rushed to the Soonchunhyang University Hospital immediately after the fight in order to undergo emergency brain surgery. He died on 3 January 2008 after being removed from his ventilator.
15 October 2008Daniel AguillonMEXAlejandro SanabriaMEXAguillón was punched in the jaw in the last minute of the 12th round of the super featherweight bout for the Central American title by his opponent Sanabria, he fell unconscious on the floor and was taken to a hospital, but never recovered.
30 April 2009Benjamín FloresMEXAl SeegerUSFlores suffered a brain injury during the fight. He died from his injuries on 5 May 2009
18 July 2009Marco Antonio NazarethMEXOmar ChávezMEXNazareth collapsed in the ring and had to be taken to the local hospital where he underwent a three-hour surgery to treat a cerebral hemorrhage. He died four days later.
20 November 2009Francisco RodriguezMEXTeon KennedyUSRodríguez immediately collapsed, losing consciousness while waiting for an official decision. He was rushed to a hospital for emergency brain surgery and died 2 days later.
5 December 2011Roman SimakovRUSSergey Kovalev RUSSimakov died of brain injuries after collapsing in the ring.
31 March 2012Muhammad AfrizalINAIrvan Barita MarbunINAAfrizal began vomiting an hour after the bout and fell unconscious with a hemorrhage and died four days after brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
17 July 2012Bae Ki-sukJung Jin-kiBae underwent five hours of brain surgery following the fight. After the operation, his body temperature, blood pressure and pulse returned to almost normal, but he remained unconscious and died four days after the bout.
20 December 2013Tesshin OkadaJPNMasafumi KamiyamaJPNSuffered fourth-round TKO in professional debut, collapsed after fight and rushed to hospital to undergo surgery for acute subdural hematoma. Died 17 days later on 6 January 2014
28 March 2013Michael NorgroveUKTom BowenUKCollapse in Round 5 died 6 April without regaining consciousness.
19 October 2013Francisco LealMEXRaul HiralesMEXFrancisco Leal went into a coma after suffering a KO loss to Raul Hirales 19 October 2013. He was taken from the ring on a stretcher and brought to a hospital in Los Cabos, then transferred to Laz Paz, and later brought to a hospital in San Diego, where he died. He had a record of 20-8-3 with 13 KOs.
29 September 2016Mike TowellUKDale EvansUKDied the following day.
27 May 2017David WhittomGary KopasWhittom suffered from a brain hemorrhage and was rushed to Saint John Regional Hospital the next morning to have part of his skull removed. Spent the next 10-months in a medically induced coma before passing away on 16 March 2018.
16 June 2017Tim HagueCANAdam BraidwoodCANWas knocked down five times in the first two rounds; died two days later.
24 February 2018Scott WestgarthUKUKScott Westgarth defeated Dec Spelman. Westgarth was knocked down just before the end of the fight and collapsed in the locker room. Westgarth was rushed to a nearby hospital and died.
5 November 2018Christian DaghioITA
Don Parueang		Christian Daghio was knocked to the canvas twice in the final round of his WBC Asia title fight against Don Parueang on 26 October. After his second knockdown, Daghio was immediately treated by medical staff inside the ring. He was subsequently taken to hospital in Bangkok where he spent two days in a coma before passing away.
19 July 2019Maxim DadashevRUSSubriel MatíasPURMatch went to 11 rounds after stoppage from Dadashev's trainer. Dadashev collapsed while being transported to the hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery. He was placed into a coma before dying three days after the fight due to cerebral edema caused by sustained hits to the head.
25 July 2019Hugo Alfredo "Dinamita" SantillanARGEduardo Javier AbreuURYAccording to ringside reports, Santillan's nose began bleeding in the fourth round of this fight on 20 July. Santillan passed out as the judges were announcing the draw. After being admitted to the hospital, he had swelling of the brain and successive kidney failure. As the swelling worsened, it affected the functioning of the rest of his organs and he never regained consciousness. Santillan underwent surgery for a clot in his brain and twice went into cardiorespiratory failure before he died of cardiac arrest. He suffered a heavy loss a month earlier in Germany against Artem Harutyunyan, which triggered the German boxing federation to protectively ban Santillan until 30 July. His regular coach Orlando Farias knew about this ban and did not coach him in this fight.
21 September 2019Boris StanchovBGRArdit MurjaALBIt was initially reported how 21-year-old Isus Velichkov collapsed during a match with Ardit Murja after suffering a cardiac arrest. But it has been revealed that Stanchov was using the boxing license of his cousin Velichkov. According to Bad Left Hook, Stanchov had been fighting under his name for the past year and was also stepping into the ring using Velichkov's medicals. The tragedy struck in the fifth round of his scrap in Albania after being caught with a jab. He had appeared wobbly on his feet in the moments before hitting the canvas. The fight was immediately waved off, and the referee and medical teams rushed into the ring.
16 October 2019Patrick DayUSACharles ConwellUSA27-year-old Day was knocked down three times in his fight with Conwell. The final knockdown that stopped the fight was particularly brutal as Day's head violently bounced on the canvas. Seeing the way Day fell, the referee immediately stopped the fight. Day was rushed to a hospital, where he began to suffer seizures and shortly after fell into a coma. Doctors then performed emergency brain surgery. Four days later on 16 October 2019, Day died from what was described as traumatic brain injury. Following his death, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said the sport needed to become safer.