Drastic weight loss, ferocious sparring and lax regulation have created a dangerous environment in Japanese boxing, as the sport battles for its future in the country after two fighters died following the same event.
Super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, fought separate bouts on the same card at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall on Aug. 2 and died days later following brain surgery.
Another Japanese boxer died after a bout in Tokyo in December 2023 and one more has been in a coma since May this year.
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