A 17-year-old boy, Eddie Bilby, has died after collapsing in the ring at his boxing match.
Eddie, from Ripley, Derbyshire, was competing on Friday night, and died later at Kingsmill hospital. A Derbyshire police spokeswoman said officers are not treating this death as suspicious at this stage. A post mortem examination and formal identification will be taking place in the upcoming days.
A friend of the family said Eddie’s death has come as a “terrible shock”, explaining that “You couldn’t have asked for a nicer lad. Clean living and 200% fit”.
Eddie, who is from a family of boxers, was going against someone he had fought before previously and took “no hard punches”. He was a member of the Somercotes Elite Boxing Academy and was terribly injured at the tournament. Eddie had lost to his opponent, Tyler Rivers in the East Midlands Welterweight Youth contest when he collapsed. Tyler Rivers’ coach Craig Perkins from Earl Shilton Amateur Boxing Club said: “Eddie came over and shook both coaches’ hands, and when the referee went to raise our lad’s hand, Eddie just stumbled forward.” Perkins also said that he has been in the boxing industry for 35 years and have never seen anyone die. He said both boys had undergone medicals and were wearing the right head guards.
Police arrived at about 22:17 pm GMT following the report of a youth collapsing in the ring. The Board of England Boxing, said in a statement that Eddie’s death has begun an investigation. The statement said: “We are extremely saddened…and would like to express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the person involved in this terrible and shocking incident. We are also asking all of the England Boxing coaches, officials and volunteers that were present on the night to co-operate with the police investigation and assist the authorities in any way they can.”
“We will be providing support to people that have been affected by this terrible news.”
