Needless to say, the sweet science is one of the most dangerous sports in the world and boxing deaths have sadly occurred. On average 13 participants die each year inside the ring. Some have been far more shocking than others. With that in mind, are 10 of the most shocking and tragic in-ring boxing deaths in the sports long history.
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Kim Duk Koo
In November of 1982, South Korean regional champion Kim Duk-koo stood across from Ray Macinini in what would be his unfortunate final appearance. Duk-koo gave the WBA lightweight champ everything he could handle over the course of 13 hard fought rounds.
Mancini earned the TKO win in the early moments of the fourteenth. Minutes later Koo collapsed and fell into a coma. He would never wake up. The ripple effects of his death would extend far beyond that evening. The standing eight count, extended suspensions for recently knocked out fighters, and more stringent pre-fight medical exams were implemented. Tragically, his mother and the presiding referee would both commit suicide within the next year.
Maxim Dadashev
Maxim Dadashev was on the verge of a world title fight in an IBF junior-welterweight eliminator bout against Subriel Matias. The Russian was overwhelmed with his corner stopping the bout after the eleventh round. Dadashev immediately argued with his trainer Buddy McGirt about his decision. However, the damage was already done.
“Mad Max” needed assistance to get out of the ring and even vomited before collapsing in the hallway en route to his dressing room. Doctors at a nearby hospital induced a coma to work on his subdural hematoma. He passed away several days later.
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Benny Paret
It’s impossible to tell the story of the great Emile Griffith without mentioning Benny Paret. The Cuban won welterweight gold twice including one time against Griffith. It was his only victory against his rival in the trilogy of fights.
Their third contest, which was broadcasted live on ABC, would prove to be fateful. Griffith landed a flurry of punches that sent his opponent through the ropes, ending the fight. Paret collapsed in the corner moments later and slipped into a coma. He was pronounced dead 10 days later. Griffith was guilt stricken over the incident for decades, citing 40 years of nightmares.
Choi Yo Sam
On Christmas Day 2007, WBO Intercontinental flyweight champion Choi Yo Sam successfully defended his title against Heri Amol. He would see the final bell after getting dropped in the closing seconds of the bout to earn the unanimous decision.
Unfortunately, he would never get to celebrate his victory. He collapsed in the ring moments before the scorecards were read. He was declared brain dead on January 2. The South Korean was removed from life support the following day.
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Patrick Day
With the death of Maxim Dadashev still fresh, Patrick Day would meet a similar fate against Charles Conwell. Day endured a beating, getting dropped twice before the tenth. In that final round, he would hit the canvas particularly hard which ended the contest in Conwell’s favor.
Conwell’s celebration quickly turned into confusion and horror as Day was put on a gurney and removed from the ring. He died four days later. As of this writing, Conwell remains undefeated and continues to pay tribute to his fallen foe.
Boris Stanchov
In September of 2019, a scheduled six rounder in Albania that would’ve flown far under the radar of most fight fans turned into a strange and tragic story. In the fifth round, Isus Velichkov was stopped, fell to the canvas, lost consciousness and died in his corner.
Only Isus Velichkov was alive and well. It was actually Boris Stanchov, his cousin, who lost the fight and his life to Ardit Murja that evening. Stanchov was competing with Velichov’s license as a way to avoid adding defeats to his record.
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Davey Moore
Davey Moore’s featherweight championship career ended after Sugar Ramos dropped him in the tenth round. Moore’s neck hit the bottom rope as he fell. While he managed to get back to his feet and finish the round, the bout was called before the eleventh. Moore even gave a fairly normal post-fight interview.
However, that seemingly unremarkable contact with the rope triggered a severe brain stem injury. Shortly after getting back to his dressing room, Moore went into a coma. 75 hours later, he was pronounced dead.
His death motivated Pope John XXIII to declare boxing a “barbaric” sport and inspired a Bob Dylan song. In 2013, a statue memorializing the fallen Olympian was erected in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio.
Jimmy Doyle
For the first defense of his welterweight titles, the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson was paired with Los Angeles native Jimmy Doyle. After dreaming of killing his opponent in the ring, Robinson wanted to withdraw from the fight until a minister convinced him otherwise.
Sadly, Robinson’s intuition was right. After dominating Doyle and stopping him in the eighth, the 22-year-old was taken to a hospital and never woke up. The champion fulfilled Doyle’s wish to buy his mother a home by giving her the purse from his next four fights.
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Frankie Campbell
After getting dropped in the second round against Max Baer, Frankie Campbell told his corner that he felt like something had broken inside his head. In the fifth, Baer went on the attack as Campbell was being held up by the ropes until the referee intervened. Doctors at ringside and at a local hospital could not revive him.
He was declared dead hours later. The blows were so severe that Campbell’s brain was “knocked completely loose from his skull.” The referee and representatives from both fighters’ camps were suspended.
Johnny Owen
Four years after ending a 120-bout amateur career, Johnny Owen faced Lupe Pintor for the WBC bantamweight crown. After shocking the crowd with a strong start, the six to one underdog lost momentum and was floored for the third time in the final seconds of the fight. As he convulsed and bled from the mouth, fans threw beer into the ring and hindered efforts to render aid.
Owen underwent several surgeries, but a pair of bouts with pneumonia undid any progress and claimed his life. Doctors also discovered that Owen’s jaw had been pushed into his brain.
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