Female boxer dies of head injury

Denver:

A female boxer died from a head injury sustained in their Colorado Golden Gloves amateur competition. Becky Zerlentes, 34, of Fort Collins, died Sunday afternoon the Denver County coroner's office said. The preliminary cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, but results from an autopsy conducted on Monday were not immediately available. Zerlentes was hit by a punch from Heather Schmitz, and despite wearing protective headgear fell unconscious during the third round of a bout late Saturday. Fatal injury Physicians jumped into the ring, but Zerlentes never regained consciousness and died several hours later. Zerlentes had a 6-4 record. "The USA Boxing family's thoughts and prayers go out to Becky's family and husband, we are deeply saddened by this loss", said USA Boxing president Sandy Martinez-Pino. USA boxing is the sanctioning body for amateur boxing. The organisation lifted its ban on women in 1993 and currently has 2,200 registered participants. Zerlentes is believed to be the first of her gender to receive a fatal injury in a sanctioned amateur match in the United States. The last death at a USA Boxing event was in February 2001, when heavyweight Quinton Grier, 31, of Springfield, Illinois, died after a match. (AP)