Edmonton boxer dies from brain injury
As an Edmonton elementary school mourned the loss of a beloved teacher on Monday, Tim Hague’s death from injuries suffered during a boxing match sparked calls for stricter licensing requirements and better protection for fighters in the ring.
Hague, 34, was injured in a second-round technical knockout loss to Adam Braidwood in a heavyweight bout on Friday night.
He was taken to hospital after the one-sided loss. His friends reported on social media that he underwent surgery to relieve bleeding on the brain. His death was announced Sunday by his sister Jackie Neil.
Hague, a former kindergarten teacher whose nickname was The Thrashing Machine, taught Grade 4 English at Ecole Bellevue School.
Hague’s death came less than a month after boxer David Whittom went into a coma with bleeding on the brain after a knockout loss in Fredericton, N.B. The two cases have raised calls for improvements in rules to ensure the safety of fighters in boxing and mixed martial arts.
Hague (1-3 as a boxer, 21-13 in MMA), a heavy underdog who accepted the fight on only two weeks notice, was knocked down three times, while another trip to the canvas was ruled a slip, in the first round against Braidwood, a former CFL player with an 8-1 record. Referee Len Koivisto stopped the bout after two more knockdowns in the second round. Braidwood’s camp declined to comment on Hague’s death.