Boxing: Hugo Santillan Becomes Second Fighter This Week To Die Of Ring-Related Injuries

Argentine boxer Hugo Alfredo Santillan died Thursday, becoming the second boxer this week to succumb to fatal injuries suffered inside the ring. Santillan died after he collapsed in the ring Saturday near the end of a fight in Buenos Aires. He was 23.

Santillan fought against Eduardo Javier Abreu of Uruguay for the World Boxing Council's Latino silver lightweight title. The bout resulted in a draw.

His death was the second boxing-related tragedy this week. Russian fighter Maxim Dadashev died Tuesday as a result of brain injuries suffered last Friday against Subriel Matias in a junior welterweight title eliminator at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md.

Following the final bell, the Argentine fighter raised his hands in triumph and gestured toward the crowd. However, he appeared unsteady as the scorecards were read and his management team held him up.

After the draw was announced in the ring, Santillan's legs appeared to give out and he collapsed in the ring as the crowd screamed for a doctor. A medic later approached and assisted him with oxygen, but it took more than five minutes to get Santillan out of the ring on a stretcher.

Santillan arrived at a nearby hospital early Sunday in a coma, and doctors discovered swelling in his brain, according to a New York Times report that attributed the timeline to Graciela Olocco, the executive director of the Hospital Zonal General de Agudos San Felipe. Doctors removed part of the boxer's skull after he didn't respond to medication, Olocco said.

The fighter suffered three heart attacks while being treated, including one on Wednesday night, the newspaper reported. He was declared dead early Thursday.

New York-based boxing promoter Lou DiBella was among several of the sport's prominent figures to voice concerns about the potentially dire consequences of the sport.

He tweeted that Santillan's collapse was, "unacceptable, haunting and sickening to watch. This has been a terrible week. As a sport/industry, we have to look in the mirror … I have to look in the mirror."]

Santillian had a boxing record of 19-6-2 with eight knockouts.