The combat sports world is devastated after undefeated Irish boxer, John Cooney passed away due to injuries he sustained in a February 1 boxing match. According to reports, Cooney suffered a brain injury and went down in the ninth round of his first Celtic Super Featherweight title defense against Nathan Howells at the Ulster Hall in Belfast.

After the fight, Cooney was rushed to a local hospital. However, it was too late and he passed away, reportedly due to a brain hemorrhage. “It is with complete devastation that we have to announce that after a week of battling for his life, John Cooney has sadly passed away,” a statement from his promoter read in part.

For those unaware, this isn’t the first time a boxer has died due to injuries taken in the ring. This serves as a reminder of how dangerous combat sports, especially boxing could be.  Another featherweight champ by the name of Davey Moore went into a coma and died shortly after his 1963 clash against Sugar Ramos. Similarly, light-heavyweight title contender Roman Simakov passed away due to brain injuries he sustained in a 2011 clash against Sergey Kovalev.

Daniel Knight recalls the time he saw someone die from fighting

The founder of Sidekick Boxing, Daniel Knight came across one such incident himself. Back in 2009, the days when Knight wanted to become a fighter himself, he went to a kickboxing show. However, a fight on the card ended tragically after a fighter passed away. He said: 

“I went to a kickboxing show in Hemel Hemstead with the guys I trained with. It was a fire fighters first ever fight and he went down by a big punch before the referee could intervene. It was an awful thing to witness as the paramedics had to give him immediate attention and he tragically passed away. It definitely had put me off fighting!”

READ MORE: The Truth Behind ‘Cheat Days’

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