Russian boxer Roman Simakov dies in hospital after collapsing in ring

I just watched the sixth and seventh rounds. That sixth round is difficult to get through, and I don't understand why the bout wasn't stopped then and there.

But as usual, I direct the most ire toward the corner. The corner has the most personal and moral imperative to protect its fighter, and this corner obviously didn't give a **** or wasn't paying attention. Terrible night for the sport.

R.I.P. Simakov

 

The guy was just relentless. A slugger through and through.

Here he is grinding down a tough Ghanaian (a fellow prospect back then, now a journeyman) who's never been stopped or perhaps even dropped before or since:
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Even against Kovalev, getting tagged left and right, his only notion was to come forward and walk his man down come hell or highwater.

No backward steps. No surrender.

 

Unfortunately while that style is entertaining, its also the one that makes the fighter absorb brain pulping damage.

Terrible that this guy is gone, paid the ultimate price to entertain us, he will be missed but always respected and remembered.

:--(

:bbb:bbbbbb:bbb

WARRIOR

 

RIP Champ.

 

Sad to watch and sad news. Rest in peace.

And a big "**** you" to many posters who use the word "coward" to describe ANYONE who steps into the ring for our entertainment!

 

Lately, I have hated to love this sport like I have for so many years. Now, even more so. RIP.

 

???

Simikov was completely brutalized in the 6th round. I just watched the whole fight for the first time. Kovalev fought brilliantly, and landed many vicious blows that snapped Simikov's headback, over & over. Simikov landed a total of ONE shot that whole round, and it was near the end.

The ref or the corner should have stopped the fight at about 2:15 of the sixth. That ref should be suspended, if he doesn't just quit on his own.

 

Let he R.I.P.

 

he wasnt a champ he lost by KO

:hat

 

Always a constant reminder of the reality of the damage in the sport.

r.i.p.

 

R.I.P. Roman. When I learned that on the russian news site I felt devastated. Even though I never heard of him. Its just so sad that this happens in this sport. He was only 27.

Agree with everyone, no boxer should be called a coward. No one. It doesnt matter if he fights scared, he is still in the ring fighting. Many boxers have heard of these tragic stories, nobody wants to be that next guy.

Thats why I will never criticize a guy for his fighting style, i.e. Klitschko, Haye. These guys know that health is more important than entertainment.

Once again RIP Roman. I really wish it didnt happen.

 

RIP Champ

 

R.i.p.

 

after a hard straight in the seventh he stumbles a second or two later, looks like that punch brought it all down

 

It is certainly tragic that Simakov died in this fight. However, the criticism of the ref is not justified in my opinion and is only being made in hindsight of what happened. Simakov seemed overmatched in the fight and took a beating. However, he was also fighting back and did not seem shaky even after the knockdown. Yes he took some hard hits in round 6. However, I could find hundreds of examples of fighters taking a worse punishment who did not suffer serious injury afterwards. I could find even quite a few examples of fighters suffering punishment worse than this and coming back to win the fight.

The brain is a mysterious and hard to predict organ. Some people die of brain damage in their sleep without ever having been punched in the head in their life. Simakov may have had a pre-existing brain condition for all that we know. Obviously the death was caused not by a single blow but accumulative damage from various blows during the fight. He may have had brain damage entering the fight from previous fights. He had been fighting at probably a too fast rate for proper recovery, 18 fights in the last 3 years.

I doubt anyone watching the video without knowing the outcome would have been yelling at the screen, "Please, ref stop this fight." There are many fights where I have yelled that at the ref but this would not be one of them without knowing the outcome. At the end of the 6th round he looks fine going back to his stool and the tv shows the other fighter during the break so who knows how he acted with his corner. It is possible that the corner ignored some signs they should not have but it is equally possibly that he acted fine. Like so many fighters he may have also told them he was fine and said he wanted to continue.

I don't see any sign that anything is seriously wrong or more serious than what one usually sees with a fighter who is losing a fight until he stumbles backwards shortly before the last flurry. And even there my interpretation is influenced by hindsight. If I did not know what happened afterwards I would have thought it was a typical footing stumble caused by clumsy feet not by brain damage.

I am sure the referee and corner team are both asking themselves whether they missed something or should have acted differently. I think it is pretty unfair for people watching a video after knowing what happened afterwards to level such strong criticism at the ref and corner crew. Until the very end of the fight I do not see anything other than a fighter losing a fight to a better opponent, something we see often in this sport. I have seen boxing death videos where one can't understand why the ref let things continue but I do not see that here. This is just an unpredictable death that occasionally happens in boxing.

RIP Roman