Nigeria-British boxer Umar Sadiq says he is recovering well after being taken to hospital coughing up blood and requiring oxygen following his defeat to Fyodor Chudinov, according to reports from Russia.
Sadiq reportedly fell ill immediately after his defeat by technical knockout in the fight in Khimki, near Moscow.
And according to Russian outlet TASS, the 32-year-old super middleweight felt disorientated and was given immediate medical assistance by doctors minutes after the fight.
A video of his stoppage loss shows Sadiq taking an onslaught of punches and failing to defend himself properly after being pinned up against the ropes in the corner, with the referee quickly waving the contest off.
The report says an ambulance was then called after he fell ill during a routine doping control and he was reportedly then rushed to hospital.
‘Umar was hospitalized,’ a source was quoted as saying, with the outlet adding the boxer began to ‘cough up blood’.
After a number of boxing fans raised concern for the fighter on social media, the man himself confirmed he was ‘good thanks’ after one user passed on his well wishes to him.
Sadiq’s defeat came just 40 seconds into round 12 of the WBA gold belt bout, but it represented just his second loss in a 12-fight career to date.
The Ilford boxer – who was born in Nigeria – has six knockouts among his 10 professional wins, and has been preparing for a British title shot against Lerrone Richards.
However, after discovering his fight with Richards would not take place in September, Sadiq decided to fight Chudinov.
The British boxer was only informed of the fight three-and-a-half weeks ago, and after undergoing a coronavirus test and finalizing an agreement last week he flew out to Russia.
However, he came up short against former WBA world champion Chudinov, who is now on a nine-fight winning streak.
The Russian is pushing for a mandatory title challenge against current WBA champion Callum Smith, with his win on Friday making him the form runner to face the Brit next.
