Mexican fighter dies after Vegas bout
Mexico City super lightweight boxer Martin Sanchez died in a Las Vegas hospital Saturday after being injured in a fight at The Orleans hotel-casino in Las Vegas on Friday night.
Sanchez, 26, lost on a ninth round knockout to Russia’s Rustam Nugaev, but was able to leave the ring on his own power.
“It was a subdural hematoma, a huge subdural hematoma, from what the doctors told me,� said Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner.
“He (Sanchez) went into a seizure right there in the dressing room,� Ratner said. “It certainly wasn’t what you would call a brutal fight.�
Ratner said it was the sixth death from injuries suffered in a fight in Nevada and the first since WBO super flyweight champion Pedro Alcazar of Panama died in Las Vegas. Alcazar lost on a sixth-round technical knockout to Fernando Montiel on June 22, 2002 and died two days later from a brain injury. Alcazar had gone sightseeing the day after the fight and collapsed as he boarded a plane to return home.
Sanchez, who was fighting in the U.S. for the first time after having his previous 21 fights in Mexico, had a 13-9 record in an 11-year professional career that began when he was 15 years old.
“I believe from the doctor and referee to the (commission) inspectors everybody did what they were supposed to do,� Ratner said. “It was one of the God forbids of the sport.�
Veteran Kenny Bayless refereed the Nugaev-Sanchez fight, according to boxrec.com, and also did the Alcazar-Montiel bout.
2005-07-12
