Dad's charity boxing safety plea after son's death in Worcester

John Chapman said the family were waiting for answers at the inquest

The father of a man who died after taking part in a charity boxing match says safety needs to be improved in so-called white collar bouts.

Dominic Chapman, 26, had taken part in an event organised by Ultra White Collar Boxing in Worcester in April 2022 when he collapsed.

His father John said the family had many questions ahead of his inquest in December.

Ultra White Collar Boxing said participant safety was paramount.

Mr Chapman said Dominic took the event seriously and began training in January for the fight at Tramps nightclub to raise money for Cancer Research.

The fighting on the night was quite intense, he said, with "contestants absolutely clubbing each other", although they wore head guards.

In comparison, Mr Chapman said his son's fight was more "tepid", but then Dominic's legs gave way just after the final round.

"I remember the corner man then trying to sit him. He'd lost all strength I think," he said.

The 26-year-old died two days after the fight

Dominic fell unconscious and was taken away on a stretcher as he received medical care before NHS paramedics were called.

"They carried my son out through the crowd, through the arena, through the front door into an ambulance outside," Mr Chapman said.

"They continued with the boxing... I just couldn't believe it.

"How could they do that where my son obviously is in the situation that he's in and we just found that so disgusting."

'Lot of questions'

Doctors informed the family that surgery was not possible due to the severity of his condition. He died two days later.

"I think it's fair to say... that we've got a lot of questions. I think, a lot of concerns that we've raised," he said.

Mr Chapman said he had since been liaising with the British Boxing Board of Control and England Boxing, which were lobbying Parliament to bring the events under their umbrella.

"We don't want other parents to go through what we're going through, because it could be avoidable," he added.

Since 2017, three men have died after taking part in Ultra White Collar Boxing events run by Ultra Events, which has raised nearly £30m for Cancer Research through tens of thousands of bouts and other events.

In a statement, the organisation said it was left devastated by Mr Chapman's death and did not wish to comment further ahead of his inquest.

Regarding safety, it said a trauma-trained paramedic and two medical technicians were present at each event with a fully equipped ambulance.

It added its medical procedures had been reviewed and approved by many safety advisory groups, local authorities across the UK, as well as a number of different medical providers that it sub-contracted across the UK.

The organisation said insurance for events was provided by a firm that also covers England Boxing, and the company had approved its medical procedures.

"We would point out that our injury rates are extremely low when compared to other commonly played sports such as football and rugby," it added.