The South African boxing world was mourning the tragic death of one of its young talents Monday, who died after a severe beating at the weekend in a junior flyweight title clash in Eastern Cape province, South Africa's SAPA news agency reported.

Samorha Msophi, 22, was knocked down in the first round but got back to his feet to go three more rounds against title-holder Mfundo Gwayana in an arena in East London.

After what described in local newspapers as a merciless pummeling by Gwayana he fell again in the fourth round, slumping onto the canvas and slipping into unconsciousness.

He was rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator to help him breathe. The fight had also left him without the faculties of sight and speech and doctors lost the fight for his life early Monday.

The local Daily Dispatch paper reported that spectators had been calling for the referee to stop the fight as Msophi tottered around the ring, trying to par a flurry of blows.

The two boxers were from the same sprawling Mdantsane township near East London and had reportedly been trading verbal blows for weeks in the run-up to the challenge.

Boxing South Africa (BSA) director of operations Loyiso Mtya, expressing his condolences, said no-one was to blame for Msophi's death. 'Everybody is a genius in hindsight,' he said, responding to criticism of the referee.

Mtya told the Dispatch that BSA was introducing measures to protect fighters that would, among other things, allow the association to penalize handlers who ignored the dangers for their boxers during grossly mismatched bouts.