Coroner issues new recommendations after investigation into boxer’s death finds falsified medical records

A Quebec coroner has revised his initial report into the death of a Mexican boxer after a Radio-Canada investigation found that her medical records had been falsified or were inaccurate. 

Jeanette Guadalupe Zacarias Zapata, 18, died several days after she was knocked out during a bout in Montreal on Aug. 28, 2021. 

Jacques Ramsay, the coroner who initially published a report into Zapata’s death, told Radio-Canada’s Enquete that he had no idea the medical records that showed she was fit to step into the ring that night were falsified. 

“The information I had was that this report [the falsified report] was normal,” he said. “There were no anomalies. My mistake.”

Ramsay’s new report, published on Friday, acknowledges the findings of the Enquete investigation and makes 10 new recommendations.

The report recommends that the Quebec liquor and gaming authority, which sanctions prize fights, check if a fighter has suffered a knockout in their previous fight, as Zapata had.

If they have suffered a knock-out recently, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) should verify video and reports of the previous knock-out to better understand the nature of the boxer’s injuries.

Pre-fight radiology and clinical exams should also be completed in Quebec, Ramsay recommends. 

The Radio-Canada investigation found that Zapata should never have been allowed to step into the ring the night she was fatally injured. Three and a half months before she died, she had suffered a concussion in a knockout loss in her home country.

The RACJ claimed it found nothing out of the ordinary when it stamped that radiology report just days before the fight. 

But the Radio-Canada investigation found anomalies with the report, and, after travelling to Mexico, determined that it had been forged.