WATCH: African Boxer Appears To Lose Bearings During Title Match

Combat sports, despite how exciting it is, always carry a heightened risk of injury because of how physical a fight can get and one wrong move could drastically affect one’s career.

Whether it is in mixed martial arts (MMA), submission grappling, boxing or any other form of combat sports, the risk they put themselves in truly does take its toll on the body.

Simiso Buthelezi was taking the fight to his opponent Siphesihle Mntungwa in the tenth and final round of their clash for the vacant WBF African lightweight championship when things sharply turned left for Buthelezi.

In the video seen below, Buthelezi can be seen knocking down Mntungwa with a well-placed left hand, which was ruled as a non-knockdown by the referee.

But after Mntungwa rose to his feet and prepared to re-engage with Buthelezi, the latter went in the direction of the referee and started punching the air.

The referee, clearly sensing that something was wrong with Buthelezi, called off the fight and Mntungwa was then declared to be the winner of the bout.

While it is unclear as to what caused Buthelezi’s bizarre reaction, boxing personality Tim Boxeo of “The Unprofessional Boxing Pod” noted that the African lightweight was removed from the ring and was placed into immediate medical care.

He also noted that the WBF has since postponed the belt ceremony for Mntungwa out of respect for Buthelezi’s condition.

It was later reported that Buthelezi is in stable condition and will be undergoing tests to determine what happened during the bout.

No updates have been given about what caused the scary incident, but it can also be seen in the video that Buthelezi leaned heavily into the ring ropes with his head during the exchange with Mntungwa and that occurrence could have been the culprit.

It is a similar instinct as to when an MMA fighter gets knocked out during a ground-and-pound sequence where the fighter immediately grabs hold of the referee and attempts to take him down, which has already happened before.

The likeliest answer for all of this is that Buthelezi suffered a type of brain injury, perhaps a concussion, during the fight and what may have caused his response that was caught on camera.

Combat sports is one of the most dangerous sports out there available for fans’ entertainment, and for anyone brave enough to step in between the ropes deserves massive amounts of respect.