The Newshound

Family of student killed in charity boxing match sues organisers for £200,000, claiming referee failed to stop fatal bout in time

From the Newshound archive · first published 13 October 2026.

Jubel Reji Kurian, the 23-year-old Nottingham University postgraduate whose father is suing boxing event organisers for £200,000, claiming a referee failed to intervene before the fatal knockout punch.
Jubel Reji Kurian, the 23-year-old Nottingham University postgraduate whose father is suing boxing event organisers for £200,000, claiming a referee failed to intervene before the fatal knockout punch.

Jubal Reji Kurian, a 23-year-old Nottingham University postgraduate student, died on 29 March 2023, four days after collapsing in the ring at Harvey Haddon Sports Centre during a charity boxing match. His father, Reji Kurian, is suing organiser Ultra Events Ltd for £200,000, contending that the referee ought to have intervened and halted the bout before the fatal punch landed.

Family barrister Harry Trusted told London's High Court: 'If that punch had not been delivered, Mr Kurian would have survived.'

Ultra Events Ltd denies all liability, insisting its referee was highly experienced and fully competent to supervise the amateur three-round bout.

Kurian had arrived in the UK only six months before his death, enrolled in a master's in sports medicine, with ambitions to qualify as an NHS physiotherapist.

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