Tragic news… the South African boxer Simiso Buthelezi – who was disoriented during a fight over the weekend and started punching in the air – has died.
Boxing South Africa confirmed the dire news on Wednesday morning – saying Buthelezi died in a hospital in Durban on Tuesday night.
He was only 24 years old.
Buthelezi was initially hospitalized on Sunday following a terrifying scene at a boxing tournament in Greyville, Durban.
Very scary in South Africa please 🙏🏼 for Simiso Buthelezi (4-1). At 2:43 of the 10th and final round, Siphesihle Mntungwa (7-1-2) falls through the ropes but Buthelezi seems to lose his grasp of the current situation. Mntungwa wins WBF African lightweight title pic.twitter.com/YhfCI623LB
—Tim Boxeo (@TimBoxeo) June 5, 2022
@TimBoxeo
The video of the fight showed Buthelezi, in the 10th round of the fight against Siphesihle Mntungwaadvanced to a corner of the ring after a brief break in the action…and threw punches in the air – apparently fighting an invisible man.
He later collapsed in the ring…and was rushed to hospital, where – according to Boxing South Africa – he was found to have a brain injury and internal bleeding.
“In hospital,” Boxing South Africa officials said in a statement, “Mr. Buthelezi received the best care possible, however he succumbed to his injury last night.”
It’s unclear when, where and how Buthelezi suffered the injury – he would have controlled the fight from the opening bell.
Boxing South Africa said in its statement that an investigation into the fight and death was ongoing.
“The Buthelezi family and Boxing South Africa acknowledge the heartfelt condolences of the Minister for Sport, Arts and Culture,” officials said.
Buthelezi was undefeated in the ring heading into Sunday’s fight.
TO TEAR APART.
Our sincere thanks to
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