Santillan becomes second boxer in days to die from injuries sustained in ring

Bob Hille

Santillan becomes second boxer in days to die from injuries sustained in ring image

Argentinian boxer Hugo Santillan has died at the age of 23 due to injuries suffered in a fight against Eduardo Abreu, the World Boxing Council has confirmed.

Santillan's death comes just two days after Russian Maxim Dadashev passed away after sustaining similar injuries in a bout with Subriel Matias in Maryland on Friday.

The WBC said: "We have received the very, very sad news of the death of the 23-year-old Argentine fighter Hugo Santillan, which happened today at the San Felipe Hospital in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires.

"The World Boxing Council and its president, Mauricio Sulaiman Saldivar, send Hugo’s family and friends their deepest condolences, at this time of deepest grief."

According to ringside reports from Buenos Aires, Santillan's nose began to bleed in the fourth round of Saturday's 10-round bout and, though he raised his arm in victory after the fight, he is said to have collapsed after the judges announced the fight as a draw.

Santillan underwent surgery for a clot on his brain and twice went into cardiorespiratory failure before he died of cardiac arrest at 12:35am local time Thursday.

"Upon admission to the hospital, he had successive kidney failure and he did not come out of his coma," Dr Graciela Olocco from Hospital Agudos San Felipe 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.”

A super lightweight, Santillan — the son of former boxer Alfredo Santillan — made his professional debut in 2015 and was 19-6-2 with eight KOs.

Bob Hille

Bob Hille Photo

Bob Hille, a senior content consultant for The Sporting News, has been part of the TSN team for most of the past 30 years, including as managing editor and executive editor. He is a native of Texas (forever), adopted son of Colorado, where he graduated from Colorado State, and longtime fan of “Bull Durham” (h/t Annie Savoy for The Sporting News mention).