Russian boxer Maxim Dadashev died this morning, four days after suffering severe brain damage in his fight against Puerto Rican boxer Subriel Matias. He was 28 years old.
Dadashev recently moved to Southern California from St. Petersburg, Russia, to work with renowned Lithuanian trainer Egis Klimas. He racked up an impressive early professional record while training in Oxnard, though he was clearly overmatched against Matias. Dadashev’s trainer Bud McGirt threw in the towel before the 12th round of the fight after he determined that Dadashev needed to stop fighting. He tried to convince Dadashev to agree to stop the bout, but his hand was forced when Dadashev wanted to continue.
(WARNING: This clip of the end of Dadashev’s fight might be disturbing.)
After the fight, he was visibly woozy and began to throw up uncontrollably upon leaving the ring. He was rushed to UM Prince George’s Hospital Center after he fell unconscious on the way to a different hospital, and once he arrived, he was put into a medically induced coma to surgically relieve a subdural hematoma. McGirt told ESPN today that Dadashev died this morning.