INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT ORDERS PROBE INTO BOXER?S DEATH
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Apr 2012
Muhammad Afrizal.
The Indonesian government has ordered a probe into the tragic death of 30 year old boxer Muhammad Afrizal who suffered a severe hemorrhage and died after undergoing surgery at the Christian University of Indonesia UKI Hospital in Cawang, East Jakarta.
The former Pan Asian Boxing Association featherweight champion who fought under the ring name Afrizal Cotto lost his Indonesian title to Irvan Barita Marbun by a twelve round unanimous decision in a bout telecast by Indosiar on March 31.
Dr. Tommy Halauwet told the Jakarta Post that ?The medical team from the hospital tried to treat him but his injury was really severe and we couldn?t manage to save his life.?
The doctor said ?fight inspectors should have warned the referee to stop the fight ? since according to Dr. Halauwet ?Afrizal had repeatedly been downed during the fight.?
In ordering a probe into the ring death Indonesian sports minister Andi Mallarangeng noted that ?Boxing is an extreme sport that?s why all the rules must be strictly applied. The minister said he had ordered the BOPI, the professional sports body to investigate ?whether all rules were applied during the fight? even as Indonesian media said reporters at ringside said Afrizal showed signs that he could not finish the fight after the eighth round and the referee should have stopped the fight.?
However, this was denied by Indonesian Boxing Commission chairman Anton Sihombing who insisted ?Everything had gone well. No rules were violated. We followed the required procedure including a health check before the fight.?
Afrizal walked to his dressing room after the decision was announced but vomited an hour later and was rushed to hospital where he underwent brain surgery for a blood clot.
The tragedy was compounded by the fact that his family had just finished sending out invitations for Afrizal?s wedding according to his manager Azhar Latif who said ?I deeply felt the loss since he planned to get married on April 15.?
His body will be flown to Medan, North Sumatra for burial.
The last Indonesian boxer to die after a fight was Anis Dwi Mulya who lost by a 6th round TKO to Irvan Bone on March 15, 2007 in Jakarta. He died after undergoing surgery twice for epidural bleeding which is defined by Wikipedia as ?a type of traumatic brain injury in which a buioldup of blood occurs between the dura mater (the tough outer membrane of the central nervous system) and the skull.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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