South African boxer Simiso Buthelezi is in a medically-induced coma following a scary incident during a WBF All Africa title fight this past weekend.
A video replay of the moment went viral, showing the boxer becoming disoriented after knocking his opponent Siphesihle Mntungwa into the ropes. After his opponent returned to his feet and the referee signaled for the fight to resume, Buthelezi turned away from Mntungwa, marched towards the nearest corner of the ring, and began throwing punches in the air, as if he was shadowboxing.
The referee immediately waived off the fight, which took place at Greyville Convention Centre in Berea, Durban, South Africa. Buthelezi was then immediately taken into medical care at King Edward VIII Hospital.
“He is not in a good health condition at all, he is critical but stable,” doctor Buyi Mabaso-Dlamini told Sowetan Live on Tuesday. “We discovered that he bled on the brain and sadly his condition does not allow the doctors that are treating to operate at the moment due to the condition.”
The 10-round bout was in the final minute, and Buthelezi did not take heavy damage prior to the moment leading to the end of the fight. In fact, two of the three judges scored the fight in his favor, while the third judge had the contest a draw up until the stoppage.
“Another suspicion is that he may have suffered an injury before Sunday’s fight,” said Mabaso-Dlamini. “It could be injuries building up all the years. His condition deteriorated when he was rushed to the hospital. But he was worse on his arrival at the hospital than when he left Greyville. We trust in God that a miracle can still happen.”
According to the report, promoter Zandile Malinga will take care of the medical bills for Buthelezi.
“I am still in shock; we did not anticipate this,” Malinga said. “As brutal as boxing can be but this is the last thing you expect. Everything was fine; no weight issues… basically no signs of anything to look into in that direction.”