Tito, whose real name is Heru Purwanto, was 35 years old. He leaves behind two daughters, ages 13 and 5, plus a wife. He was pronounced dead at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday at Mitra Keluarga Kelapa Gading Hospital, according to the family. His final pro record is 29-17-2 (11 knockouts).
Matchmaker Rosa Kusuma, who had organized a number of Tito’s fights, released a statement from Tito’s wife, Didin Nurul Wijayanti.
“She thanks all the boxing people who always give support and prayers for Hero Tito. Thank you for all your kindness to us and our family,” reads the statement. Tito’s body will be returned to his family in their hometown of Malang in the East Java province of Indonesia.
Tito fell into a coma after suffering a one punch knockout in round 7 from an uppercut against fellow Indonesian James Mokoginta at the Holywings Club in Jakarta. The bout was a rematch of their 2015 bout, which Tito had won by decision.
Tito turned professional in in 2004 and fought all over the eastern hemisphere, traveling to Timor-Leste, Japan, Macau, Australia, Thailand, China, South Korea, Kazakhstan and India for fights. Among the names he fought are Ik Yang, whom he fought to a majority decision loss on the Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios card in Macau, Will Tomlinson and Jamshidbek Najmitdinov.
A durable fighter, Tito had been stopped just six times in his career. He fought three times in 2021, pulling off an upset majority decision win over Hebi Marapu, an Indonesian boxer who entered with a 15-0 record, in April of 2021.
Tito had been extremely active since the previous decade, fighting five times in 2013 and 2014 each and six times in 2015. Tito was coming off a decision loss to Karthik Sathish Kumar in India last December, and was scheduled to fight Jacob Wyllie (5-0, 4 KOs) on March 12 in Australia.
Tito is the 31st Indonesian boxer to die in the ring, according to Indonesian news outlet VOI, and the first since 2013, when Tubagus Sakti died a day after suffering an eighth round stoppage to Ical Tobida in Jakarta.
Credit: The Ring
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