Boxer Patrick Day Dies From Traumatic Brain Injury Suffered in Super Welterweight Fight

Day succumbed to the traumatic brain injury he suffered in his super welterweight title bout loss to defending champion Charles Conwell.

© Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports

Junior middleweight Patrick Day has died from injuries sustained in his 10th-round knockout in Chicago on Saturday night, the boxer’s management company, DiBella Entertainment, announced on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Day succumbed to the traumatic brain injury he suffered in his title bout loss to defending champion Charles Conwell. He was surrounded by his family, close friends and members of his boxing team at the time of his death. 

"On behalf of Patrick's family, team, and those closest to him, we are grateful for the prayers, expressions of support and outpouring of love for Pat that have been so obvious since his injury," the statement read.

Day, 27, fell to the canvas on Saturday after falling under a barrage of punches in the 10th and final round. Day was treated by a doctor in the ring and then was rushed off on a stretcher by paramedics and transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he underwent emergency brain surgery and fell into a coma shortly afterward.

As of Sunday evening, Day was still in a coma and was in “extremely critical condition,” per DiBella Entertainment.

In an emotional open letter to Day on Monday, Conwell said he had replayed the fight "over and over in my head" and was riddled with feelings of guilt and regret over the outcome.

"If I could take it all back I would. No one deserves for this to happen to them," Conwell wrote in the post. "I prayed for you so many times and shedded so many tears because I couldn't even imagine how my family and friends would feel."

DiBella Entertainment added that Day's death made it "very difficult to explain away or justify the dangers of boxing at a time like this."

"This is not a time where edicts or pronouncements are appropriate, or the answers are readily available. It is, however, a time for a call to action," the team said. "While we don't have the answers, we certainly know many of the questions, have the means to answer them, and have the opportunity to respond responsibly and accordingly and make boxing safer for all who participate. This is a way we can honor the legacy of Pat Day. Many people live much longer than Patrick's 27 years, wondering if they made a difference or positively affected their world. This was not the case for Patrick Day when he left us. Rest in peace and power, Pat, with the angels."