New Delhi: The boxing world lost one of its jewels when Shigetoshi Kotari, 28-year-old Japanese boxer, succumbed to brain injury he sustained during his fight. Kotari’s final bout with Yamato Hata on August 2 proved fatal as the super-featherweight had to be hospitalised after his fight culminated in Tokyo, in which he fought to a draw with Hata for the super-featherweight title.
It is being learnt that Kotari suffered a fatal head injury due to repeated blows during the fight which led to his hospitalisation and eventual death. After the bout, which proved to be tragic, the Japan Boxing Commission announced all Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) title bouts will now be 10 rounds instead of 12. Even after an emergency surgery, he failed to regain consciousness and passed away leaving the world of boxing in grief.
What caused Kotari’s death?
After the bout ended in a spilt draw, Kotari collapsed in his corner moments after. The boxer was later hospitalised and scans revealed a subdural hematoma, which is a serious condition where blood collects between the brain and its outer covering, usually due to a head injury. It is being learnt that repeated blows to the boxers head causing tearing of the veins which caused a pool of blood putting pressure on the brain.
In this condition, the blood collects between the skulls and brain and requires an immediate surgery, which in Kotari’s case didn’t work and became the reason for his tragic death. Kotari is the second high-profile boxer to die in the current year after Irishman John Cooney passed away in February following a fight in Belfast.
World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman said: ‘Deeply sorry for this loss, a ring accident which makes all of us go back to continue research to find ways to make boxing safer and implement prevention programmes. Our deepest sympathy and condolences for his family and the boxing community in Japan.’