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Family of student sues charity boxing organisers for £200,000 over death in Nottingham ring

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 postgraduate student at Nottingham University, collapsed during an amateur charity boxing bout at Harvey Haddon Sports Centre and died on March 29, 2023, four days later. His father, Reji Kurian, is suing organiser Ultra Events Ltd for £200,000, contending that the referee should have stepped in before the fatal punch was thrown. The family's barrister Harry Trusted told London's High Court: 'If that punch had not been delivered, Mr Kurian would have survived.' Kurian had arrived in the UK from the UAE just six months before his death, enrolling to study sports medicine with the aim of qualifying as an NHS physiotherapist.

Kurian suffered bleeding on both sides of his brain, never regained consciousness, and died after his parents agreed at his bedside to withdraw life support.

Ultra Events Ltd denies all liability, insisting its referee was 'highly experienced and competent' and that Kurian had completed over 33 hours of gym training beforehand.

For the £200,000 damages claim to succeed at the High Court, the family must establish a 'sufficient level of carelessness' on the part of the organisers.

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