The boxing world is mourning the death of Hugo Alfredo “Dinamita” Santillan, a young Argentine boxer who passed away on Thursday from the injuries he sustained in a fight against Uruguayan fighter Eduardo Javier Abreu on Saturday.
Dr. Graciela Olocco from Hospital Agudos San Felipe in Argentina confirmed the death on Thursday morning to media outlets. He was 23.
Santillan underwent surgery for a clot in his brain and twice went into cardiorespiratory failure before he died of cardiac arrest at 12:35 a.m. local time Thursday, Olocco said.
According to ringside reports, Santillan’s nose began to bleed in the fourth round and, though he raised his arm in victory after the fight, he passed out as the judges were announcing the draw — scored 95-95, 93-97 and 96-94 — against Abreu (10-1-1).
“Upon admission to the hospital, he had successive kidney failure and he did not come out of his coma,” Olocco said. “He had swelling of his brain and he never recovered consciousness. The swelling continued to worsen, and it affected the functioning of the rest of his organs.”
His death comes days after Russian boxer Maxim Dadashev died on Tuesday after suffering a similar brain injury during Friday’s fight in Maryland against Subriel Matias of Puerto Rico. He was 28.
