Impact That Killed Boxer Likened to Fall From Building

A massive brain injury suffered by a teen-age boxer who collapsed shortly after a sparring session last Thursday and died Monday was consistent with “falling out of a building,” according to Dr. Frederick Finelli, a Washington, D.C., trauma surgeon who treated the fighter.

Hayes Singletary Jr., 19, a 125-pound amateur from Temple Hills, Md., never regained consciousness.

“It was brain damage. He got punched in the head,” Finelli said. “His injury was consistent with someone involved in a car accident or falling out of a building.”

Chris Cline, the fighter’s manager, said Singletary’s sparring partner never hit him hard but Singletary was “looking sloppy” so he ended the workout early. He said that after Singletary left the ring, the two were talking when “all of a sudden he slumped over.”

An autopsy revealed the cause of death as a blood clot on the brain.