Boxing Trainer Suffers Deadly Heart Attack While Cornering Wife

The boxing world suffered an unexpected tragedy last night (Fri., Sept. 15, 2023) when boxing trainer, Diego Arua, suffered a massive heart attack ringside while cornering his wife. Arua passed away at the hospital shortly after.

Arua’s wife, Sabrina Perez, was fighting rising boxing sensation Skye Nicholson as part of the DAZN-broadcasted main card in Tijuana, Mexico. The two women were competing for the WBC interim featherweight title. It was the biggest career spotlight for both boxers.

As expected, Nicholson was able to utilize her deeper bag of tricks and overall size to command the action and walk away with a unanimous decision win and her first world title. But that is not what boxing fans will remember from this fight after seeing what happened to Arua between the ninth and tenth rounds.

In the waning moments of the ninth round Arua was seen on the stool in Perez’s corner shouting instructions. All of a sudden the 58-year-old trainer fell to the side onto the floor. Fellow corner members and fans near ringside knew something was wrong right away. Medical staff quickly rushed out and brought Arua out on a stretcher.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The Argentinian trainer had already suffered a major heart attack. Arua was taken to the hospital where he later passed away.

“It is with deep sadness that we have been informed of the sudden death of Argentine coach Diego [Arua], who suffered a devastating heart attack during the Sabrina Perez fight in Tijuana,” said WBC president, Mauricio Sulaiman, after the incident.

You can see some of the ringside footage below: