American boxer Patrick Day, who suffered grievous head injuries during a bout four days ago, has died. Day was in a coma after undergoing emergency surgery at Northwestern Memorial hospital in Chicago.
Day was injured in the tenth round of the Super-Weltereight match against Charles Conwell at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Day, 27, was carried away from the ring unconscious after he was knocked out. It was a right hand punch from Conwell that handed Day the tragic injury.
"On behalf of Patrick's family, team, and those closest to him, we are grateful for the prayers, expressions of support and outpouring of love for Pat that have been so obvious since his injury," promoter Lou DiBella said in a statement, according to AFP.
"He was surrounded by his family, close friends and members of his boxing team, including his mentor, friend and trainer Joe Higgins," DiBella said in a statement. "On behalf of Patrick's family, team, and those closest to him, we are grateful for the prayers, expressions of support and outpouring of love for Pat that have been so obvious since his injury," he added.
Meanwhile Conwell, a 2016 Olympic boxer, was overtaken by remorse. He "never meant this to happen to you," Conwell wrote in a Twitter post addressed to Day. "All I wanted to do was win. If I could take it all back, I would ... No one deserves this to happen to them. I replay the fight over and over in my head thinking what if this never happened and why did it happen to you," Conwell wrote.
Day was a highly accomplished amateur fighter for long before he turned professional. The year 2012 was great for him, when he won two Nationals titles and the New York Golden Gloves tournament, according to CNN.
AFP reported that Day is at leas the third boxer to die in the ring this year. The most recent deaths were those of Argentine boxer Hugo Santillan's and Russian fighter Maxim Dadashev's in July.
