Shigetoshi Kotari died Friday at the age of 28, six days after his violent 12-round split draw with Yamato Hata in Tokyo.
Following the bout at Korakuen Hall, Japan’s Kotari fell unconscious and was taken to a hospital for a brain bleed. Hata, too, was sent to the hospital to address the punishment from the fight. According to the UK’s Daily Express, the Japan Boxing Commission wrote in a press release that Kotari had a craniotomy – a surgery that removes part of the skull often in order to relieve pressure on or treat a brain injury – at the hospital.
Kotari started at junior lightweight as a professional, but he fought at lightweight for the majority of his career, in which he compiled a record of 8-2-2 (5 KOs). All 12 of Kotari’s professional fights took place in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.
In a social media post, the WBO wrote of Kotari: “A warrior in the ring. A fighter in spirit. Gone too soon.”
Before his 12-rounder with Hata, Kotari had fought exclusively in six- and eight-round bouts.
“Following the emergency surgery of Kotari, the Japan Boxing Commission are set to enforce changes by the Secretary-General Tsuyoshi Yasukawa,” The Sun wrote after Kotari’s death.
“OPBF title fights will now be 10 rounds, having switched away from the previous 12.”
