Pro Boxer Dies of Cancer at 25

Georgia O'Connor died undefeated. The British boxer, who died from cancer Thursday at age 25, was a champ at the junior level and won all three of her paid fights after turning pro in 2021, the BBC reports. Her last fight was in October 2022. In 2023, she said she had been living with ulcerative colitis for two years—and in January, she said she had been diagnosed with cancer. In a post on Instagram, she said she had been in constant pain since early October but "absolute incompetent RATS" refused to take her seriously despite the fact that she had colitis and the chronic liver disease primary sclerosing cholangitis, which significantly raise the risk of getting cancer.

"Not one doctor did the scans or blood tests I begged for whilst crying on the floor in agony," and one doctor even told her it was all in her head, O'Connor wrote in the January post. In February, she said she had suffered a miscarriage, People reports. "We are heartbroken by the passing of Georgia O'Connor," her promoter, Boxxer, said in a statement. "A true warrior inside and outside the ring, the boxing community has lost a talented, courageous and determined young woman far too soon."

O'Connor's medals before she turned pro included a gold at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. "It's hard to comprehend how cruel life can be, just 25 years old, she had so much ahead of her, but I know our boxing community will honor her memory," said retired boxer Stacey Copeland, per the BBC. In her final Instagram post earlier this month, O'Connor said she had married "the love of her life," boyfriend Adriano Cardinali. (More obituary stories.)