23-year-old Argentinian boxer Hugo Alfredo “Dinamita” Santillan became the second professional fighter in a week to die from injuries sustained in the ring, The Guardian reports.
Santillan was fighting against Uruguayan Eduardo Javier Abreu in Buenos Aires on Saturday night when his nose began to bleed during the fourth round. He continued to fight, but while the judges were announcing the draw, Santillan fainted and was taken to the hospital.
Dr. Graciela Olocco from Hospital Agudos San Felipe confirmed his passing to the press on Thursday morning. While undergoing surgery for a clot in his brain on Wednesday, he went into cardiorespiratory failure twice and ultimately died of cardiac arrest.
"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."
Santillan, a super lightweight, was the son of professional boxer Hugo Alfredo Santillan. Before Saturday's fight, he had a record of 19 wins, six losses, and two draws.
One day before Santillan collapsed in the ring, Russian boxer Maxim Dadashev sustained fatal injuries in the IBF junior welterweight title eliminator fight.
During his match against Subriel Matias in Maryland’s MGM National Harbor, Dadashev's trainer Buddy McGirt threw in the towel in the 11th round after noticing the fighter was seriously impaired. Once the fight concluded, Dadashev was on his way to the locker room when he vomitted and collapsed. He was taken to the hospital for emergency brain surgery and placed in a medically-induced coma, but passed away on Tuesday at 28 years old.
Matias told NBC4 Washington he's "devastated" over the boxer's death.
"We simply go up to the ring thinking about the well-being for our family without knowing how complicated and difficult it is to get into the ring," he said. "Fly high great warrior. Only God knows the reason of things. You will always have my respects. R.I.P. Maxim Dadashev."
