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 Braydon Smith, 23, had congratulated Filipino John Moralde for
claiming a unanimous points decision win in their WBC Asian Boxing
Council continental featherweight title bout in Toowoomba on
Saturday but collapsed after returning to his dressing room.
The law student was put into an induced coma but never regained
consciousness and his life support was turned off at a Brisbane
hospital on Monday.
Australian Medical Association Queensland president Shaun Rudd said
the fighter's death showed why boxing should be banned nationally.
"We believe that a so-called sport where two people knock each other
in the head as often as you possibly can to win a bout seems rather
barbaric," he told ABC on Monday.
"You're not allowed to hit the organs beneath the belt whereas
you're allowed to hit the organ above your shoulder which is the
most important organ in the body."
A representative of the Smith family said the young boxer, who was
unbeaten in 12 fights prior to the Moralde bout, had wanted to show
that boxing was not as dangerous as people feared.
"He really wanted to change the image of boxing," James O'Shea told
AAP on Monday.
"A lot of times in this country the sport gets a bad rap.
"A big goal of his in life was to show people it's not (a bad
sport)."
The death of Smith, also know as "The Great White", comes four years
after another Australian boxer, 18-year-old Alex Slade, collapsed in
the fourth round of a bout in Townsville. He never regained
consciousness and died a week later.
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Boxing Queensland president Ann Tindall defended the sport's
reputation.
"It's a tragic accident, a tragic accident as you can have in a car
or any other sport, there are many sports that have deaths in them,"
Tindall was quoted as saying by ABC.
"We don't believe we're immune, but at the same time we don't
believe it's the boxing that's going to actually harm any of our
youngsters."
Moralde said his thoughts were with the Smith family.
"I pray for Brayd's soul, may he rest in peace. He's gone too soon.
Hopefully his friends and family will be okay," Moralde told GMA
News Online.
(Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; editing by Amlan
Chakraborty)
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