Marie-Pier Houle beat her opponent Jeanette Zacarias Zapata to death in Quebec, Canada. The female boxer did it right in front of a home crowd of her cheering fans. She isn’t happy about it though. “Yesterday’s events really upset me.” She noted Sunday. Zapata continued her fight with the grim reaper in the ICU until Thursday, before succumbing to the injuries she received in the fight.
Boxer succumbs to injuries
Groupe Yvon Michel is the organizer of the “GYM Gala International Boxing event” which was held Saturday, August 28, at the IGA stadium in Montreal’s Jarry Park. Everything was fine until the end of the fourth round of a six-round fight.
18-year-old Mexican welterweight boxer Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, who’s record was 2 wins, 4 losses, was paired up with Marie Pier Houle. Houle boasts 4 wins, no losses, one draw and two knock outs.
Nobody is blaming the winning boxer for the death but everybody is wondering why in “the moments leading to the knockout, the referee did not interfere.” As 3Kings Boxing explains, the “events escalated very quickly at the conclusion to the bout.”
Things started going south for Zapata when she was “caught in the corner in the final seconds of the fourth round.” That’s when she “absorbed several heavy shots to the head that froze her on her feet.” The referee stood frozen too.
Houle “struck Zapata with a left uppercut and then delivered a right hook, jolting her opponent’s mouthguard.” The stunned boxer didn’t collapse to the canvas, she just stood there.
“Despite never going to the canvas, when the bell sounded, Zapata lingered in the corner unresponsive, at which point referee Albert Paludo Jr. called a halt to the contest.” Thirty seconds later, “Zapata initially slumped over and then collapsed in the ring and began convulsing.”
Condition only worsened
Zapata was quickly rushed to the hospital and placed in intensive care where the boxer “was put in a medically-induced coma to relax her body and brain.” Over “the next several days, her condition only worsened until she ultimately passed away.”
An official statement notes, “Zapata died a few days later with her husband Jovanni Martinez by her side.” Event organizer Yvon Michael tweeted, it “is with great sadness and torment that we learned, from a representative of her family, that Jeanette Zacarias Zapata passed away this afternoon at 3:45 p.m.”
Houle, the 31-year-old boxer who faced Zapata that night is “devastated over this deadly turn of events.” The day after the fight she told the whole world that “yesterday’s events really upset me. Boxing carries a lot of risks and dangers. This is our job, our passion. Never, forever, intention to seriously hurt an opponent is part of my plans.” when she heard of her opponent’s demise, she made another statement.
“Following the announcement of the terrible news of the death of Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, I am devastated. I extend my deepest condolences to her family and spouse, Jovanni Martinez. Thank you for respecting my desire not to comment more. The sad news of the departure of a great athlete like Jeanette Zacarias Zapata leaves me sad and devastated. I offer my sincere and deep condolences to her family and husband Jovanni Martinez. May God enlighten your soul and receive it in his glory.”
According to the Quebec Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault, “The Coroner’s office will be investigating the possible cause and circumstances surrounding her death.”
One of the loose ends to follow up on is that the boxer had “undergone neurological exams to get permission to participate in the Montreal fight” because Zapata “was knocked out in a match last May in Mexico.”
