![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_MP3_0737.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFormer Celtic super-featherweight title holder John Cooney, 28, from Galway, died a week after suffering a head injury in a fight<\/p>\n
Rebecca Black Press Association<\/p>\n
12:18, 26 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John Cooney(Image: Matthew Pover\/Matchroom)<\/p>\n
The first preliminary hearing has taken place ahead of an inquest<\/a> into the death of an Irish boxer following a fight in Belfast last year.<\/p>\n Former Celtic super-featherweight title holder John Cooney<\/a>, 28, from Galway, died a week after suffering a head injury in a fight at the Ulster Hall<\/a> in February 2025.<\/p>\n He was treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital<\/a> for an intracranial haemorrhage, also known as a bleed on the brain.<\/p>\n His family, represented by KRW Law, said his death raises “profound concerns about safety practices” in the sport, and want to see the probe examine safety regulations.<\/p>\n They have expressed hope the case would prompt Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights so the state ensures adequate laws and regulatory frameworks where life-threatening activities are permitted.<\/p>\n Mr Cooney’s father Hugh watched via video during the brief preliminary hearing on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n The British Boxing<\/a> Board of Control (BBBoC) and referee Darren Sarginson are set to be properly interested parties in the proceedings, as well as Mr Cooney’s family.<\/p>\n Coroner Anne-Louise Toal heard about preparations for the inquest, including requests for disclosure from BBBoC, Kingsbridge and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service<\/a> (NIAS), and a request for footage.<\/p>\n Barrister Mark Bassett, acting for the next of kin, suggested the inquest looks at the adequacy of the regulations, in line with the right to life in Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).<\/p>\n Ms Toal said she had not made up her mind at that early stage in terms of the scope of the inquest.<\/p>\n Another preliminary hearing will take place on May 6.<\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here<\/a> and sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Celtic super-featherweight title holder John Cooney, 28, from Galway, died a week after suffering a head injury…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,25542,174817,101,56,117319,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-496619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-inquest","10":"tag-john-cooney","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-ulster-hall","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}