Dr. Graciela Olocco from Hospital Agudos San Felipe in Buenos Aires, Argentina, confirmed the death on Thursday morning to media outlets, ESPN reported. Santillán had faced off against Uruguayan boxer Eduardo Javier Abreu on Saturday in Buenos Aires for the World Boxing Council's Latino silver lightweight title. The match resulted in a draw.
In TV coverage of the event, Santillán can be seen after the match being held up by his trainers. He appears to drift in and out of consciousness. Eventually, the boxer collapses to the ground, and people in the audience can be heard yelling for a doctor.
It took more than five minutes to get Santillán off the ring and onto a stretcher, the New York Times reported. He was taken to a nearby hospital.
"Upon admission to the hospital, he had successive kidney failure, and he did not come out of his coma," Olocco said. "He had swelling of his brain, and he never recovered consciousness. The swelling continued to worsen, and it affected the functioning of the rest of his organs."
Santillán suffered three heart attacks while being treated, including one Wednesday night, the New York Times reported. He was declared dead early Thursday.
Doctors who treated him don't believe the young boxer had brain injuries before Saturday's fight, said Raúl Quijano, head of the hospital's coronary unit.
“There was no blood in the brain,” Quijano said. “Unless this kid had some form of brain malformation, the main presumption, the most likely and most logical one, is to think that this had to do with the punches he received during the fight.”
Santillán's death comes days after 28-year-old Russian boxer Maxim Dadashev died of injuries from a July 19 fight, according to previous Cox Media Group reports. Dadashev also suffered from brain swelling and was put in a medically induced coma before being declared dead.
Boxing promoter Lou DiBella tweeted the video showing Santillán immediately after Saturday's match and commented on both deaths.
"This is unacceptable, HAUNTING, and sickening to watch," DiBella said of the video. "This has been a terrible week. As a sport/industry, we have to look in the mirror....I have to look in the mirror..."
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