The boxing world may soon have some concrete answers regarding the recent untimely death of Jeanette Zacarias Zapata.
The coroner’s office of Quebec will launch a formal investigation into the death of the 18-year-old Mexican boxer, who passed away Thursday afternoon at a hospital in Montreal after sustaining head injuries five days earlier Saturday night, Aug. 28, during a boxing match on a card topped by the Kim Clavel-Maria Soledad Vargas main event.
The news of the investigation was announced Friday morning by Quebec’s public security minister and deputy premier Geneviève Guilbault.
“Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Jeanette Zacarias Zapata,” Guilbault posted on her Twitter account. “@CoronerQuebec will proceed with an investigation on the probable causes and circumstances that led to the death of the athlete.”
Zapata (2-4) lost consciousness after her opponent, Quebec native Marie-Pier Houle (4-0-1, 2 KOs), connected on a flurry of shots in the waning moment of the fourth round of their women’s welterweight bout, prompting the referee to stop the fight. Zapata, however, was not able to return to her own corner and began convulsing on her feet. She was eventually carried out on a stretcher and sent by ambulance to Montreal Sacred Heart Hospital where she was placed in a medically induced coma.
Well-known Canadian boxing fixture Yvon Michel, the promoter of Saturday’s show and whose company, GYM, was responsible for recruiting Zapata from Mexico to participate on the card, responded to Guilbault’s announcement with his own tweet, saying that he would wholeheartedly cooperate with the investigation, while tagging in his response two other government officials, including former hockey player and Liberal party politician Enrico Ciccone, an outspoken critic of matchmaking practices in boxing.
“Madame @GGuilbaultCAQ I can assure you of our full cooperation and complete transparency with @CoronerQuebec concerning the investigation on the sad tragedy which has afflicted all of us. @IsabelleCharest @EnricoCiccone,” wrote Michel.
The alcohol, racing, and gambling commission of Quebec (RACJ), which oversees combat sports in the province, also voiced its support for the investigation.
“The commission will collaborate with the investigation to shed light and help the coroner to evaluate all regulations as far as a health and safety is concerned in order to minimize the risks involved in a high-risk sport,” the commission wrote on its website. “Out of respect for the work of the coroner, the commission will offer no further comment.”
According to The Journal of Montreal, the inquest, among other endeavors, will look into determining the state of Zapata’s brain before she flew to Montreal from her hometown of Aguascalientes, Mexico for her scheduled fight. Zapata had been knocked out in her previous fight in May, against fellow Mexican Cynthia Lozano (9-0, 7 KOs). Zapata was subsequently suspended by the Mexican commission for 60 days, which she completed by the time she fought Houle last week.
Recently, however, since Zapata’s death, footage of the fight back in May has been making the rounds on the internet. The video, three minutes long, shows that the knockout was far more brutal than many had thought. At the end of the sixth and final round, Zapata goes down from a left hand and cannot get up. As Lozano celebrates, Zapata lingers on the canvas. She is soon on her back as members of her team and a doctor swarm her.
According to the Journal, the Mexican regained her senses after a few minutes and was able to walk out of the arena on her own; she is reported to not have experienced any issues afterward. Michel has insisted that Zapata’s neurological tests, both in Montreal and in Mexico, returned normal results. Still, the disturbing video has caused a stir in Mexico and Quebec sporting circles, prompting GYM matchmaker Vincent Morin, who signed off on the bout between Zapata and Houle, to admit that he would have not made the fight had he had seen the video beforehand.
“We did not have access to this video before starting our negotiations with Zapata,” Morin told the Journal of Montreal. “Of course I would love to have seen it. We knew she had lost by knockout, but we did not know the circumstances under which that happened. If I had seen the video before, Marie-Pier [Houle] would not have boxed last Saturday.”
Jake Lamotta Granato, a spokesperson for the coroner’s office, promised a thorough investigation.
“In terms of the investigation, the coroner will write up a detailed report in which it will lay out the identity of the deceased person, the date and place of her death, as well as the causes and the circumstances that led to the death,” Granato told Radio-Canada Sports. “It can also lay out recommendations aimed at avoiding similar deaths.”