The manager of John Cooney who passed away from a boxing injury said the fighter knew the dangers “but no one thinks it’s going to come to their door.”
The Irish boxer was assessed by a medical team after dropping to the canvas while defending his Celtic Super-featherweight title against Nathan Howells on February 1.
The team determined he would need urgent medical care and was rushed to Royal Victoria Hospital.
The Ulster Hall bout was subsequently called off after the ninth round.
Doctors performed emergency surgery on the Galway native after it was discovered he suffered an intracranial haemorrhage before it was confirmed he had passed away in hospital at the weekend.
Mark Dunlop, Mr Cooney’s manager, called boxing a “dangerous sport” but said John was fully aware of all the “pitfalls of pro boxing.”
“Every fighter knows the dangers – but no one thinks it’s going to come to their door,” he told BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show.
“I’ve been in boxing for 40 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this and never even been close to it.”
He added: “As much as it is a dangerous sport, fatalities are rare but they’re there.”
Mr Dunlop said one of the 28-year-old’s sayings was often “tomorrow was not promised” and that Mr Cooney “certainly lived for the day.”
When asked how he feels about the sport now Mr Dunlop admitted that “half of me wants to pack it in.
“It’s put me off on maybe the whole thing of promoting. Only time will tell how I feel. At the moment, we’re all in mourning.”
Former champion boxer, Barry McGuigan, called the death of Mr Cooney “a tragedy” in what is “the most dangerous sport in the world.”
Speaking to the Nolan Show, he said: “He was a lovely and sweet kid. Just an ambitious, determined and driven like most young boxers who want to be successful. And just to have his life snapped away like that is just tragic.
Mr McGuigan urged the sport to take a closer look at issues surrounding fighters making strict weight requirements for their weight class.
“I think the one common denominator amongst all those that have been damaged is the issue of struggling with weight and dehydration and rehydration,” said Mr McGuigan.
“We need to learn so much more about this and how we can rehydrate safely. But I don’t even know if it’s possible if you struggle too much to make weight.”
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News Catch Up: Monday 10th February