A fight in which Scottish boxer Mike Towell died after receiving a fatal blow to the head "should never have taken place", a sheriff has ruled.
The 25-year-old, known as Iron Mike Towell, died in hospital the day after he was removed from the ring at the end of a fifth-round loss to Dale Evans in Glasgow on September 29 2016.
In a report published today following a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Glasgow Sheriff Court into his death, Sheriff Craig Turnbull suggested Mr Towell should "have followed the advice not to box which was given to him by three separate doctors".
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He added that the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) rules "are vulnerable to the withholding and concealing of relevant information by boxers".
The inquiry heard that the boxer told a doctor he was “feeling great and ready to box” in the weeks before he died.
Dr Scott Henderson, who’s on the list of doctors approved by the British Boxing Board of Control, gave evidence to the inquiry last year, and said he saw Mike about September 6, 2016, for stomach and neck pains.
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The doctor – who carried out Mike’s annual boxing medical in February that year – advised him to see his GP.
He said Mike was “actively training” and had told him he only had one episode of pain in his stomach and the pain in his neck was mild.
Dr Henderson said he phoned Mike the following week and learned he had seen his GP, was “feeling great” and claimed he’d had an ultrasound.
Dad-of-one Mike, from Dundee, died of a bleed on the brain the day after he collapsed following the British title eliminator at Glasgow’s St Andrews Sporting Club.
He was given medical treatment in the ring before being taken to hospital but died 24 hours later.
The inquiry also heard from Mike’s GP Dr William Oswald, who prescribed him aspirin.
Dr Oswald said: “It was my feeling we were dealing with a headache problem related to his neck.”
Asked if he should have ordered a CT scan, Dr Oswald said: “He had an opinion from an A&E consultant the day before, who found him clinically well.”
