British boxer Sherif Lawal has died following a head injury he sustained during his professional debut, according to multiple reports. He was 29.
Lawal was competing at the Harrow Leisure Centre in London on Sunday, May 12, when he suffered a blow to the temple, the event’s promoter, Warren Boxing Management, said in a statement on social media the following day.
“Last night, Sherif Lawal was making his debut at a show at Harrow Leisure Centre, in which our boxer Courtney Bennett was scheduled to fight,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, during Sherif’s fight, he collapsed and despite the best efforts of the paramedics, he was later pronounced dead.”
Warren Boxing Management offered their condolences to Lawal’s “family, friends, coaches, and all those close to him at this tragic time.”
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According to ESPN, Lawal’s fight against Portuguese opponent Malam Varela was the first match of the event, and the subsequent fights were canceled after Lawal suffered the fatal injury.
“Unfortunately during Sherif’s fight, he collapsed and despite the best efforts of the paramedics, he was later pronounced dead,” promoters Warren Boxing Management said in a statement.
The British Boxing Board of Control also released a statement on Monday confirming Lawal’s death, according to NBC. “The thoughts of all those involved in Boxing in Great Britain are with them at this difficult time,” the board’s statement said.
Additional details were not provided.
In 2021, a similar tragedy occurred when 18-year-old boxer Jeanette Zacarias Zapata sustained brain injuries while fighting Canada’s Marie-Pier Houle, according to the Associated Press.
Zapata was attended to by her partner and trainer, Jovanni Martinez, and a medical team at the stadium took her to a local hospital where she was placed in a medically induced coma, the AP reported.
Her death was announced by event promoter Groupe Yvon Michel in a statement on Thursday night. “It is with great sadness and torment that we have learned, from a representative of her family, that Jeannette Zacarias Zapata passed away this afternoon at 3:45 p.m.,” the statement read.
