UK boxer dies after knockout blow in first fight

A boxer from Norfolk, UK, has died after suffering a fatal knockout blow in his first-ever fight.

Polish-born Kuba Moczyk was competing in his first bout when he was knocked out with one punch in the third round of his fight on Saturday at Tower Complex in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

The 22-year-old subsequently suffered a bleed on the brain and went into a coma. He died on Wednesday night at James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth after his life support machine was switched off, his family said.

His twin sister Magdalena, who had been holding a vigil at his bedside in intensive care, set up a GoFundMe page with a target of £20,000 (US$25,000) for Kuba to receive specialist treatment abroad.

“My poor, twin, older brother by whole 5 minutes, who I can't live without,” she says on the page. “Kuba was looking forward to the big day, he really wanted to be in that ring. He was training long and hard for it.

READ MORE: Death of Russian junior boxer, 15, after local fight sparks criminal investigation

“We need to get him to another place where he can get the care he needs. He is continuously fighting, his heart beats and even though his eyes are shut, they're tearing up and he cries with us. I know he can hear us whenever I speak to him.

“It's our birthday very soon, on the 4th December and my heart bleeds just thinking of it.”

As a result of Kuba’s death, there will be a minute’s silence held at a meet-and-greet event with former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in nearby Gorleston on Thursday night.

Two-weight world champion boxer Carl Frampton paid tribute to Kuba on Twitter.

Local boxing promoter Leon Docwra said Kuba “did not have a nasty streak in his body.”

“It was a big thing for him to do. He plucked up courage and got lots of support and everyone was cheering him on. And that was his first and final fight,” he said, BoxingScene.com reported.

READ MORE: Scottish boxer dies after he was knocked unconscious

Kuba’s death comes just weeks after a 15-year-old boxer from Russia died in a bout after being knocked unconscious. The event sparked a criminal investigation as it emerged that the young athlete had suffered serious head injuries in a car crash eight years previously but had still been declared fit to fight in Vladimir, around 180km east of Moscow.

Both events follow the tragic death in late September of Scottish boxer Mike Towell, who died after being stretchered from the ring upon being knocked out in the fifth round of his bout with Welsh opponent Dale Evans.