In this Oct. 20, 2018 file photo, Maxim Dadashev, of Russia hits Antonio DeMarco, of Mexico, during a junior welterweight bout in Las Vegas. Maxim Dadashev died after suffering a brain injury in a fight in Maryland. He was 28. | AP photo
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 Tuesday, the federation said. 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.”The Russian Boxing Federation’s secretary general, Umar Kremlev, said the federation would investigate whether anyone was at fault for Dadashev’s death.
In a statement, promotor Top Rank called Dadashev “a talented fighter inside the ring and a loving husband and father outside the ropes.”