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Boxer Maxim Dadashev undergoes brain surgery after collapsing following loss to Subriel Matias

OXON HILL, MD - JULY 19: Maxim Dadashev receives attention in his corner after his corner threw in the towel following the eleventh round of his junior welterweight IBF World Title Elimination fight against Subriel Matias (not pictured) at The Theater at MGM National Harbor on July 19, 2019 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Maxim Dadashev threw in the towel following the 11th round of his junior welterweight IBF World Title Elimination fight against Subriel Matias. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Previously undefeated Russian boxer Maxim Dadashev underwent brain surgery to relieve a subdural hematoma — a brain bleed on his right side — after losing to Subriel Matias on Friday night.

Dadashev took numerous tough shots to the face in the IBF junior welterweight world title eliminator when his trainer, former world champion Buddy McGirt, threw in the towel after the 11th round. Things quickly took a turn for the worse.

Dadashev needed help leaving the ring, and he started vomiting before he could reach the dressing room, according to ESPN’s Steven Kim. He then had to be taken off on a stretcher and to a hospital, when he lost consciousness.

McGirt's intervention appears even more critical since Dadashev would have risked further damage if he had his way and kept fighting. McGirt was tipped off toward Dadashev's exhaustion when he saw him unable to swallow water between rounds.

“I couldn’t convince him (to stop fighting), but at the same time, I saw he was getting hit with more and more clean shots and the fight went on,” McGirt said after the fight. “I’m saying to myself, is this worth it? God forbid, one punch, as you know, can change a whole guy’s life, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. So I’d rather them be mad at me for a day or two than to be mad at me for the rest of their life.”

Dadashev’s surgery lasted two hours, and he showed signs of severe brain damage, although medication has decreased his swelling. Dadashev is expected to recover over several days, and although doctors don't know the extent of the damage, subdural hematomas have a fairly strong recovery rate.

“I just hope that Maxim is all right,” Matias said, via the Washington Post. “He is a great fighter and a warrior.”

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