Female Boxer’s Death Sparks Outrage

18-year-old Mexican boxer Jeanette Zacarias had a bright future ahead of her, but it was unfortunately snuffed out after she was knocked out during a recent match and died a few days later.

According to VICE, Jeanette Zacarias suffered a devastating blow during her match in Montreal last month, that snapped her head back like a rubber band. Immediately after that, she started convulsing, her right arm shaking between the ropes while her opponent was declared the victor. As a medic tended to her, she fell to the floor unconscious. Five days later, she lost her life. 

Her death led to many questions, especially if she was even medically fit to compete in the boxing match in the first place. Salvador Rodríguez, a sports journalist in Mexico City commented on the situation.

There’s always a lot of indignation when there’s a fatal accident or terrible situation in boxing. People think she shouldn’t have fought after having been knocked out about 100 days before the fight she had in August.

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Zacarias was knocked out in the sixth and final round of a fight in northern Mexico back in May. Zacarias was visibly growing increasingly disoriented as her opponent delivered the final blows before she fell to the canvas. She was later taken to a hospital to be examined but was released that same night.

She was suspended by the local boxing commission from competition for 90 days, which was 60 days more than the mandatory minimum medical leave ordered after suffering a knockout.

 “In one way or another, there was a precedent that told us that it was dangerous for her to continue in boxing.

Zacarias’s longtime trainer and manager, Luis Cruz stated that medical exams following the fight in May didn’t reveal any cause for concern, nor did a brain scan or MRI that she underwent in order to be permitted to return to the ring.

“Everyone who gets into the ring knows that there is a risk of an accident,”

It is simply a terrible thing that happened and perhaps it would have been better had she not been allowed to compete in the first place.

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