Two boxers in Japan have tragically died from brain injuries incurred during separate bouts at the same event in Tokyo, officials reported. Super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, fought on the same card at Korakuen Hall on August 2.
Following their matches, both fighters were rushed to the hospital for brain surgery. Kotari, who fought to a draw against fellow Japanese fighter Yamato Hata, lost consciousness shortly after the bout and “passed away at 10:59 pm on August 8,” according to a statement from his M.T boxing gym. The gym noted that he fought hard through surgery and treatment for acute subdural hematoma.
Urakawa was stopped in the eighth round of his fight against Yoji Saito and “tragically succumbed to injuries sustained during his fight,” as stated by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) in an Instagram post. Local media reported that Urakawa died on Saturday night.
The WBO expressed its condolences, stating, “This heartbreaking news comes just days after the passing of Shigetoshi Kotari, who died from injuries suffered in his fight on the same card.”
Tsuyoshi Yasukochi, secretary-general of the Japan Boxing Commission, remarked that it was likely “the first time in Japan two fighters underwent skull-opening surgery for injuries stemming from the same event.”Bookmark messageCopy messageExport