Hugo Santillán competed in his last bout at Club Atlético, San Nicolás and immediately began another fight for his life.
Santillán, just 23 years old, died this morning after clinging on for five days.
Fighting a ten-round split decision against Eduardo Abreu, Santillán passed out when awaiting the verdict.
Not that it holds any significance now, but the fight ended in a draw.
Doctors were called to the aid of Santillán and it was clear he was in real trouble. It seemed to take an age to administer oxygen to the stricken super-lightweight.
‘Dinamita’ was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery for a brain clot. Two cardiac arrests followed before the tragic news nobody wanted to hear broke on Thursday.
Father Hugo, also a boxer, guided his son to 19 wins as a professional until his life was cut short in the most devastating way.
The death of Santillán comes just days after Maxim Dadashev, 28, was lost in a similar way following his ESPN fight on Friday night.
There have now been at least two boxing tragedies per year since 2017. Before that, there had been six deaths in the previous seven years.
WBN would like to offer our condolences to the family of Hugo at what is yet another tragic loss the sport has suffered
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