Tokyo: Two Japanese boxers have died within days of each other after sustaining brain injuries in separate bouts on the same fight card.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The World Boxing Federation on Saturday confirmed the deaths, which occurred at Tokyo\u2019s iconic Korakuen Hall on August 2.<\/p>\n
The deaths have reignited urgent debate over boxing safety regulations in Japan \u2014 especially the duration of fights and ringside medical protocols.<\/p>\n
What do we know about the boxers’ deaths?
Shigetoshi Kotari, 28, collapsed shortly after completing a grueling 12-round tie against junior lightweight champion Yamato Hata on August 2.<\/p>\n
He was rushed into emergency surgery for a subdural hematoma, also known as a brain hemorrhage \u2014 a life-threatening condition where blood pools between the brain and skull \u2014 but died on Friday.<\/p>\n
The World Boxing Council confirmed Kotari\u2019s death was directly linked to injuries sustained during the bout.<\/p>\n
Just one day later, Hiromasa Urakawa, also 28, died after suffering the same type of brain injury during a knockout loss to Yoji Saito.<\/p>\n
The lightweight fighter was knocked out in the eighth and final round and underwent a craniotomy in a bid to save his life.<\/p>\n
Tributes paid to boxing ‘warrior’
The World Boxing Organisation (WBO) paid tribute to Kotari on social media.<\/p>\n
“The boxing world mourns the tragic passing of Japanese fighter Shigetoshi Kotari, who succumbed to injuries sustained during his August 2nd title fight,” the statement said.<\/p>\n
“A warrior in the ring. A fighter in spirit. Gone too soon.”<\/p>\n
Kotari\u2019s gym also released a heartfelt statement on its website: “He gave everything \u2014 fighting through surgery and treatment at a Tokyo hospital after suffering an acute subdural hematoma. He never stopped battling.”<\/p>\n
Following Urakawa’s death, the WBO issued a separate message extending its “deepest condolences to the families, friends, and the Japanese boxing community, during this incredibly difficult time.”<\/p>\n
How has Japan’s boxing regulator responded?
Tsuyoshi Yasukochi, secretary-general of the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC), told local media on Saturday that it was likely “the first time in Japan two fighters underwent skull-opening surgery for injuries stemming from the same event.”<\/p>\n
In response, the JBC announced that all Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation title bouts will now be shortened from 12 rounds to 10.<\/p>\n
Urakawa\u2019s death marks the third boxing fatality worldwide from in-ring injuries this year.<\/p>\n
Last year, Irish boxer John Cooney died a week after being hospitalized following his Celtic super-featherweight title defeat to Nathan Howells in Belfast.<\/p>\n
He had suffered a severe brain injury during the bout.<\/p>\n
Calls for tighter oversight of boxing \u2014 both in Japan and internationally \u2014 have been gaining momentum following the fatalities.<\/p>\n
Advocates are demanding shorter fight durations, mandatory post-fight medical scans, and stricter enforcement of concussion protocols.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tokyo: Two Japanese boxers have died within days of each other after sustaining brain injuries in separate bouts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,1348,1345,1361,1360,1347,1355,1353,1358,1350,1354,1349,1351,1356,1359,1352,85,1357,1346],"class_list":["post-57501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-breaking-news","tag-evening-times-of-oman","tag-expats","tag-expats-in-oman","tag-latest-news","tag-muscat","tag-muscat-daily","tag-news-in-oman","tag-news-oman","tag-oman","tag-oman-news","tag-oman-news-agency","tag-oman-observer","tag-oman-time-now","tag-ona","tag-sports","tag-times-of-oman-newspaper","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}