TRIBUTES have been paid to a boxer who died following a fight staged at a Nottingham nightclub.
Lance Ferguson-Prayogg was competing at The Forum in the Cornerhouse leisure complex. He lost the bout to his opponent, Shaun White, from Sheffield, on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Ferguson-Prayogg collapsed and lost consciousness as he left the ring. He was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre but died on Sunday.
Mr White, who met his opponent for the first time at the Fight At The Forum 10 event on Saturday, told the Post: "The fight finished and just as he left the ring, he collapsed.
"It is one of those situations where you just don't know what to say but my heart goes out to all his friends and family and I send my heartfelt condolences to them."
East Midlands Ambulance Service was called at 5.40pm on Saturday and sent a Fast Response Vehicle followed by an ambulance.
Mr Ferguson-Prayogg, from Liverpool, had a partner and a daughter. He was ranked sixth in the super middleweight Organised International Boxing Association (OIBA) rankings.
Damian Hucker, a member of Dukeries Fightcard – promoter of the event – and named on the website as the founder of OIBA, offered his condolences to Mr Ferguson-Prayogg's family.
He said: "I am truly devastated by his death and will never be involved in boxing again.
"I was already planning on leaving the boxing scene as I'm about to start training as a paramedic but this has confirmed that for me now."
OIBA describes itself as a semi-professional boxing organisation that brings together promoters from around the country to enable "legitimate title bouts" to take place.
The website states it "operates under a set of rules and regulations to the benefit of the sport" and "is the only sanctioning body that offers free membership to anyone who wants to get involved".
Mr Hucker said the rules include having qualified medical staff and an ambulance in attendance at all times, as well as fair matches between fighters. He said the rules differed from those regulating professional boxing.
"These guys have bigger gloves, shorter rounds and less rounds, and the referee protects all the boxers and never allows them to continue beyond their capability," he said.
But Marcellus Baz, who runs the Nottingham School of Boxing for amateurs to help young people out of crime and anti-social behaviour, said that semi-professional boxing required more regulation than it has now.
He said: "It needs to be monitored. Amateur boxing is governed the by Amateur Boxing Association of England and professional boxing is governed by the British Boxing Board of Control.
"I am not saying it should be just one organisation having a monopoly on [regulation] but if anyone set up something to ensure it was governed, I think everyone would be up for it."
On Facebook, Mr Ferguson-Prayogg's trainer, Micky Allen called the previous 30 hours "the boxing trainer's worst nightmare" and added: " I hope people know that Lance's partner, daughter and family will need a lot of help no matter how OK they say they are. RIP top boxer Lance."
