World Mourns Death of Argentinian Boxer 'Dinamita' Santillan

Argentinian lightweight boxer, Hugo ‘Dinamita’ Santillan, 23, died Thursday after suffering severe head injuries in a match Saturday against Uruguayan athlete Eduardo Abreu.

RELATED: 
Thai Doctors: Underage Muay Thai Boxing Akin to Child Abuse

Santillan entered the ring and went 10 rounds against Abreu, suffering a number of head injuries throughout the fight.

The pair were awaiting the final score when Santillan suddenly lost consciousness, “collapsing into the arms of his trainers” just seconds before the match was announced a draw, the World Boxing Association said.

The young boxer was hospitalized and underwent emergency surgery to remove a brain clot before experiencing two cardiorespiratory arrests.

Dr. Graciela Olocco, of the Hospital of San Nicolas, said of the death, “Upon admission to the hospital, he had successive kidney failure … 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.”

The 23 year-old “never left the coma,” Olocco said.

The incident was a tragic ending which could have possibly been avoided. While fighting in Germany just weeks before, the lightweight was facing Armenian-born fighter Artem Harutyunyan in Hamburg, June 15. After sustaining severe injuries, Santillan was prohibited from fighting by German boxing authorities. However, Dinamita's latest match against Abreu took place in Argentina and the ruling did not carry over.

Santillan’s death is the second boxing-related fatality suffered this week after Maxim Dadashev, 28, was pummeled into a coma Friday night during a fight with Puerto Rico’s Subriel Matias.​​​​​​​