*South African boxer Simiso Buthelezi has died after being hospitalized on Sunday following a bizarre but scary incident during a boxing tournament in Greyville, Durban.
Buthelezi passed away on Tuesday night at a hospital in Durban. He was 24 years old, TMZ reports.
We reported previously that Buthelezi was put in an induced coma at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, South Africa after he became disoriented and started shadow boxing during a WBF All Africa title fight over the weekend.
READ MORE: Boxer Simiso Buthelezi in Coma After Fighting Invisible Opponent During Title Fight | VIDEO
Very scary in South Africa please ???????? for Simiso Buthelezi (4-1). At 2:43 of the 10th & final round, Siphesihle Mntungwa (7-1-2) falls through the ropes but then Buthelezi appears to lose his understanding of the present situation. Mntungwa takes the WBF African lightweight title pic.twitter.com/YhfCI623LB
— Tim Boxeo (@TimBoxeo) June 5, 2022
Here’s more from TMZ:
Video of the incident hit social media on Sunday … showing Simiso Buthelezi fighting Siphesihle Mntungwa for the WBF African lightweight title. In the 10th round of the fight, Simiso was easily winning, when something went very wrong.
A few seconds into the final round, Mntungwa falls through the ropes. When he gets up, the ref tells the men to continue fighting. However, Buthelezi turns to the referee, and squares up to him, as if he is the opponent. Buthelezi then advances to the corner of the ring and starts throwing punches at the air … as if he were fighting an invisible opponent.
That’s when the ref, sensing something was wrong, ended the fight, per the report.
Watch the moment via the Twitter video above.
Rest in peace to Simiso Buthelezi, many of you would’ve seen the video of Simiso boxing an ‘invisible opponent’ in a clip that recently went viral.
Sadly, he didn’t make it. Absolute tragedy. God rest his soul & God bless his family. ❤️???? pic.twitter.com/vtA9GVGfh6
— Footy Limbs (@FootyLimbs) June 8, 2022
“There wasn’t anything untoward in the fight and in training. He was leading the fight on points before the unfortunate incident occurred,” said his trainer Bheki Mngomezulu on Monday, per News24.
Boxing South Africa said an investigation into the fight and the boxer’s death is underway.
“The Buthelezi family and Boxing South Africa acknowledges warm words of condolences of the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture,” officials said, TMZ reports.
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