Montreal: Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, an 18-year-old boxer from Mexico, died yesterday, five days after she was knocked out in a fight, promoter Yvon Michel said.
“It is with great sadness and torment that we learned, from a representative of her family, that Jeanette Zacarias Zapata passed away this afternoon at 3:45 p.m.,” a statement from Groupe Yvon Michel said.
Zapata took part in the GYM Gala International Boxing event Saturday in Montreal, losing to Marie Pier Houle in the fourth round of a welterweight match.
A left uppercut and right hook from Houle dazed Zapata in the fourth round.
She did not answer the bell for the fifth round of the scheduled six-round professional bout, and after she appeared to have a seizure she was stretchered out of the ring and taken to hospital.
Extremely distressed
“The entire team at Groupe Yvon Michel team is extremely distressed by this painful announcement,” the promoters said in their statement offering condolences to the fighter’s family and in particular her husband, Jovanni Martinez.
“Jovanni does not wish to comment,” the statement said.
Houle had posted a statement on her Facebook account Monday saying she was upset by the outcome of the bout.
“Boxing carries a lot of risks and dangers,” she said. “This is our job, our passion. Never, forever, intention to seriously hurt an opponent is part of my plans.”
