Russian Boxer Dies After Suffering Brain Injury in the Ring

28-year-old Maxim Dadashev suffered a brain swelling in Friday’s light-welterweight fight with Subriel Matias.

File photo of Maxim Dadashev of Russia (left) in action against Antonio DeMarco of Mexico in Las Vegas.

(Photo: AP)

Boxer Maxim Dadashev died on Tuesday, four days after suffering a brain injury in a fight in Maryland. He was 28.

The Russian Boxing Federation said Dadashev suffered a brain swelling in Friday's light-welterweight fight with Subriel Matias at the Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. He underwent surgery but his heart stopped on Tuesday, the federation said.

Dadashev was hospitalised at UM Prince George's Hospital Center shortly after the fight, which was stopped by his corner following the 11th round after Dadashev took numerous shots to the head.

Footage from the fight shows Dadashev shaking his head in his corner as his trainer, Buddy McGirt, pleads with him to stop the fight, telling him: “You’re getting hit too much, Max. Please, Max, please let me do this.”

Shortly after, the referee stopped the bout at McGirt's request.

The Russian Boxing Federation's secretary general, Umar Kremlev, said the federation would investigate whether anyone was at fault for Dadashev's death.

“We need to know the truth about what happened,” Kremlev wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “I believe that some human factors intervened, that there was some kind of violation.”

He added the federation would give Dadashev's family financial support.

Both fighters were 13-0 before the bout, which offered the winner the right to challenge IBF titleholder Josh Taylor. Dadashev had been viewed as a rising star after beating two former world lightweight champions, Darleys Perez and Antonio DeMarco, last year. Before Friday's fight, he had won 11 of his 13 fights by way of knockout.

In a statement, promotor Top Rank called Dadashev "a talented fighter inside the ring and a loving husband and father outside the ropes."

He was originally from the Russian city of St. Petersburg but had fought exclusively in the United States since turning pro in 2016.

“He was a very kind person who fought until the very end,” Dadashev’s wife, Elizaveta Apushkina, said in a statement issued by the hospital. “Our son will continue (to) be raised to be a great man like his father. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone that cared for Maxim during his final days.”

The Russian embassy in the US said in a statement on Facebook it is "ready to provide any necessary assistance for (Dadashev's) repatriation to Russia."