Two Japanese Boxers Die From Brain Injuries Suffered in Same Tokyo Event

Japanese boxing has been plunged into mourning after two fighters died from brain injuries sustained during separate bouts on the same fight card in Tokyo.

Super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, competed on August 2 at Korakuen Hall. Kotari went the full 12 rounds against fellow Japanese fighter Yamato Hata in a match that ended in a draw, but collapsed shortly afterwards. His M.T Boxing Gym announced that he “passed away at 10:59 pm on August 8,” following treatment for acute subdural haematoma. “He did his best to fight his way through the surgery and treatment he had been receiving at a Tokyo hospital,” the gym said.

Urakawa faced Yoji Saito in an eight-round contest and was stopped in the final round. The World Boxing Organisation (WBO) confirmed in an Instagram post that he “tragically succumbed to injuries sustained during his fight” on Saturday night. “This heartbreaking news comes just days after the passing of Shigetoshi Kotari, who died from injuries suffered in his fight on the same card,” the WBO added, offering “deepest condolences to the families, friends, and the Japanese boxing community.”

Both fighters underwent emergency brain surgery after their bouts, a situation that Japan Boxing Commission Secretary-General Tsuyoshi Yasukochi described as likely “the first time in Japan two fighters underwent skull-opening surgery for injuries stemming from the same event.”