Nigeria boxer Umar Sadiq has been hospitalised after falling ill following his defeat to former WBA champion Fyodor Chudinov in Russia.
Sadiq reportedly began to cough up blood after his defeat by technical knockout, having needed an oxygen mask straight after the fight in Khimki, near Moscow.
According to Russian publication TASS the 32-year-old super middleweight was disorientated following his defeat and was given immediate medical assistance by doctors,
he 32-year-old super middleweight was disorientated following his defeat and was given immediate medical assistance by doctors, according to TASS.
TASS says an ambulance was then called after he fell ill during routine doping control.
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“Umar was hospitalized,” a source was quoted as saying, with the report adding that the boxer began to “cough up blood”.
No further details on his medical condition were made available.
Sadiq’s defeat, 40 seconds into round 12 of the WBA gold belt bout, was his second in a 12-fight career so far.
The Ilford boxer, who was born in Nigeria, counts six knockouts among his 10 professional wins, and has been gearing up for British title shot against Lerrone Richards.
Sadiq agreed to the fight 1,800 miles from home at short notice, and put in a fearless performance against the Russian WBA champion, according to British Boxing News.
The publication quoted Martin Theobald from New Age Boxing saying: “Sadiq looked shattered at end of that 11th and Chudinov knew it. But that was immense from Umar. Showed he can be at that level.”
And Seconds Out’s Danny Flexen described Sadiq’s performance as a “brave and tenacious display”.
The fight only came up three and a half weeks ago after Sadiq discovered his fight with Richards would not take place in September
An agreement was only finalised around a week ago, and after Covid-19 testing was finalised on Sunday he flew out to Russia on Monday.
Chudinov (23-2, 16KOs), is now on a nine-fight winning streak.
He is pushing for a mandatory title challenge against current WBA king Callum Smith, with his win on Friday making him the front runner to face the Briton next.
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