Family Sues Boxing Match Organizers After Student's Death
The family of a 23-year-old graduate student who died from a brain injury sustained during a charity boxing match is suing the event organizers for £200,000, alleging negligence.
The family of Jubel Reji Kurian, a 23-year-old graduate student, has filed a lawsuit seeking £200,000 from Ultra Events Ltd, the organizers of a charity boxing match where Kurian suffered a fatal brain injury. Kurian died on March 29, 2023, four days after collapsing in the ring at Nottingham's Harvey Haddon Sports Centre following a knockout blow in the final round of the amateur bout.
According to the family's barrister, Harry Trusted, the lawsuit argues that the organizers should have stopped the fight before the knockout punch was delivered. "If that punch had not been delivered, Mr Kurian would have survived," Trusted stated at London High Court, adding that the case hinges on demonstrating a "sufficient level of carelessness" by the defendants.
Ultra Events Ltd denies any liability, asserting that the referee was experienced and capable of supervising the amateur contest. The company's barrister, Daniel Tobin, noted that Kurian had undergone more than 33 hours of boxing training prior to the event. He argued that the family would need to establish a "very high degree of carelessness" by the organizers, which he contended was absent.
The legal proceedings are in their preliminary stages, with a trial expected next year. Lawyers recently argued over what evidence should be presented to the trial judge. The family's legal team requested permission to call an expert witness, a referee with over 40 years of experience, to analyze video footage of the match. However, Ultra Events' counsel objected, claiming the proposed expert lacked specialized knowledge of white-collar boxing regulations and no medical expertise.
The judge permitted the expert evidence to be heard at trial, with Ultra Events also having the option to present their own expert witness. Kurian, who had moved to Britain six months before his death to pursue a master's degree in sports medicine with the goal of becoming an NHS physiotherapist, was found by an inquest in 2024 to have died from a "devastating" brain injury so severe that no medical intervention could have saved him.
Witnesses at the inquest indicated that Kurian had been competing well until the tide turned in the third round. His father, Reji, returned from the United Arab Emirates upon hearing of his son's injury.