Boxing remembers three deaths in a tragic nine-day sequence

Three people connected to boxing, aged 33, 36 and 38, died within nine days. The sequence began on August 13 with the death of former Puerto Rican prospect Prichard Colón and ended on August 21 with the killing of former two-weight world champion Zolani Tete.

Colón’s family confirmed that he had died at 33, almost 11 years after the brain injury that ended his career. He suffered dizziness and vomiting after his October 2015 fight against Terrel Williams in Virginia. Medical staff found bleeding on his brain and carried out emergency surgery, but the injury left him facing severe long-term consequences.

Colón had been unbeaten and hoped to become a world champion. Instead, his family supported him through nearly 11 years of rehabilitation and care. His struggle became a source of encouragement for people beyond boxing before his death.

Three days later, Hayden Panettiere died at 36 in an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. Emergency services found an unresponsive woman and declared her dead at the scene. Police said their initial findings showed no indication of foul play, while an official cause of death had not been released.

Panettiere was known to boxing followers through her relationship with former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, which began in 2009. They became engaged in 2013 and had a daughter, Kaya, in December 2014 before separating in 2018. Kaya lived mainly with Klitschko while Panettiere dealt with personal difficulties. Panettiere had also lost her younger brother, Jansen, three years earlier at the age of 28.

Tete was shot outside his home in Mdantsane, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, five days after Panettiere’s death. Police said two masked men opened fire as he waited for his gate to open. A 27-year-old woman in his vehicle was also shot and taken to hospital. Tete died at the scene after trying to drive into his yard, while investigators opened murder and attempted-murder cases. No arrests had been made and the motive remained unknown.

Tete had last boxed in July 2022 against Jason Cunningham. His knockout win was later changed to a no contest after an adverse stanozolol finding, bringing a four-year suspension that expired on July 29. He had resumed training and was preparing for a return. The deaths were unrelated, but together formed a nine-day period of loss around boxing.