The Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) will open an accident investigation looking into the death of Kazuki Anaguchi following his Japanese bantamweight title fight against Seiya Tsutsumi.

 

Tsutsumi-Anaguchi served as the co-main event to Naoya Inoue’s successful attempt to become a two-weight undisputed champion, defeating Marlon Tapales to add the IBF and WBA world super-bantamweight titles to his WBO and WBC belts at the Ariake Arena in the Japanese capital Tokyo. 

 

Tsutsumi dropped Anaguchi heavily in rounds four, eight, nine, and 10 of the 10-round contest to successfully defend his Japanese title. 

 

Concerns for Anaguchi’s welfare first emerged almost immediately following the fight, as ringside emergency staff tended to Anaguchi in the ring. 

 

Anaguchi lost consciousness during his transfer from the arena to the hospital and was placed in a coma after losing consciousness and Anaguchi underwent emergency surgery to remove an acute subdural hematoma. 

 

Despite surgery, Anaguchi passed away on February 2 in hospital. He was 23-years-old.

 

The JBC has said it will create a panel, headed by a lawyer, and it will consist of seven members, including medical experts, JBC officials and media members. The commission has confirmed the panel will meet on Friday [March 15] to begin the investigation and discuss preventive measures that the commission can implement to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. 

 

The JBC hopes the investigation will be completed – and a detailed report published – by April 15, and the document will include causes, reasons and recommendations provided to the commission.