Japanese boxer Hiromasa Urakawa has died from brain injuries he got in a fight against Yoji Saito on August 2, 2023. This sad news comes right after another Japanese boxer, Shigetoshi Kotari, died from injuries he got in a fight on the same day.
Urakawa lost his fight by knockout and went to the hospital with serious injuries. Doctors did a big surgery on his brain to try to help him, but he didn't make it.
The Japan Boxing Commission told everyone about Urakawa's death. The World Boxing Organization said they felt very sad for the families, friends, and all of Japanese boxing.
"We feel so sorry for the families, friends and Japanese boxing during this really hard time. This very sad news comes just days after Shigetoshi Kotari died from injuries he got in his fight on the same card."
There's more bad news in Japanese boxing. Yamato Hata, who fought Kotari, also has brain injuries and isn't doing well. Earlier this year, two other boxers, Kazuki Anaguchi and Kanamu Sakama, died after fighting on the same night as famous boxer Naoya Inoue.
Mauricio Sulaiman from the World Boxing Council said:
"We're so sorry about this loss. It was an accident in the ring that makes us all need to keep looking for ways to make boxing safer and start programs to stop these things from happening."
The Japan Boxing Commission is trying to make things safer. They've said that some fights will now be 10 rounds instead of 12. But some people think this change isn't enough and came too late.
All of these sad events have made people look closely at boxing in Japan. Many are asking for better ways to keep boxers safe. There's a big talk going on about whether the new rules will really help or if more needs to be done to protect the fighters.
