Boy, 17, dies after amateur boxing match

By BBC

A 17-year-old boy has died after collapsing in the ring at an amateur boxing match.

Eddie Bilbey, from Ripley, Derbyshire, was competing at the Postmill Centre in South Normanton on Friday evening. He died later at Kingsmill hospital.

A Derbyshire police spokeswoman said officers were not treating his death as suspicious at this stage.

A post-mortem examination and formal identification will take place in the coming days.

A friend of the family, who did not want to be named, said the teenager’s death has come as a “terrible shock”.

He said: “You couldn’t have asked for a nicer lad. Clean living and 200% fit.”

The youngster, who is from a family of boxers, was fighting someone he had fought before and took no “hard punches”, he added.

Eddie belongs to the Somercotes Elite Boxing Academy and was taking part in the amateur tournament, promoted by the South Normanton School of Boxing, at the conference centre in Market Street.

Police arrived at about 22:17 GMT following reports a youth had collapsed in the ring.

The Board of England Boxing, the sport’s governing body, said in a statement the event was sanctioned by them and it has begun an investigation.

It 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.”

The force said it was investigating on behalf of the coroner and have appealed for any footage of the bout to be shared as part of their investigation.