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Russian boxer Roman Simakov has died in hospital without regaining consciousness after suffering heavy injuries in a bout against Sergey Kovalev on December 5.

The 27-year-old was defending his WBC Asian Boxing Council light heavyweight belt against former compatriot Kovalev, who now lives in the US, in a match held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg,

Simakov suffered a knockdown in the sixth round, with the fight turning into a one-sided affair thereafter.



The bout was stopped one round later, with Kovalev being awarded a TKO victory and Simakov taken straight to hospital.

“The patient was delivered to our emergency room in a coma,” the hospital’s emergency department informed.

“The patient was in such a serious condition that we didn’t even have time to do an MRI. An urgent craniotomy was performed, with a large bruise on the right of the skull removed.”

The doctors fought for the boxer’s life for three days, but he passed away on the night of December 8 without regaining consciousness.

The athlete will be buried in his home city of Kemerovo.

Roman Simakov has taken part in 22 professional bouts during his career, collecting 19 wins (9 KOs), two defeats and a draw.