Leavander Johnson died Thursday as a result of injuries suffered in a boxing match against Mexican Jesus Chavez Saturday night in Las Vegas. The 35-year-old Johnson had been in critical condition since the bout in which he lost not only the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight title but his life.
It is not clear what could have been done to prevent Johnson's death. He took approximately two dozen unanswered punches just before the bout was stopped by referee Tony Weeks in the 11th round.
Shortly after the fight, Johnson collapsed in his dressing room. He never regained consciousness. The boxer underwent emergency brain surgery. Shortly after the operation, his kidneys failed and his heart stopped beating on its own. Doctors decided to remove life support systems.
'I don't think there's anyone to blame here other than the circumstances,' said promoter Lou DiBella. 'He's a victim of his own courage.'
'He suffered a very severe injury,' Doctor William Smith, who performed the brain surgery on Johnson told Reuters. 'The problem was that the injury was to the brain itself. In some cases the punishment is absorbed by the skull but in this young man's case the brain itself absorbed the punishment.'
Margaret Goodman, the chairwoman of the Nevada State medical advisory board, said there would be a full investigation into Johnson's death.
'The commission is going to sit down and look at everything again and again and again,' she said. 'We really need to look at what can be done in the future. Something is wrong,' she added. 'I don't know what it is and I don't know what needs to be changed but we need to re-evaluate the entire way we approach the testing and treatment of boxers. These kids trust their lives to us and we are failing them.'
Johnson's death comes a mere two months after Mexican boxer Martin Sanchez died from injuries suffered in a bout in Las Vegas.
According to an editorial in 'The Spokesman-Review,' of Spokane, Washington, more than 900 boxers have been killed as a result of injuries sustained in the ring since 1920. It appears there will be additional controversy surrounding whether or not boxing should continue as a legal sport.
'It is time to halt that tabulation,' the editorial said. 'It is time to ban boxing, a sport in which death is the predictable outcome of athletic proficiency…it is surprising that more boxers don't die.'
