LEADING brain injury experts have renewed calls for boxing to be banned as it emerged that Scottish boxer Mike Towell – who died late on Friday following a fight in Glasgow – had been forced to stop sparring in a training bout because of a migraine just weeks before his fatal last fight.

Despite claims from leading industry figures that boxing is safer than ever before, head injury charity Headway said that lessons had not been learned from previous incidents and called for the sport to be outlawed to save young lives. The call was backed by Paul Flynn, the veteran Labour MP who attempted to ban blows to the head in boxing – allowing only shots to the body – through a failed private member’s bill in 1998 and in 2005.

Dr Otmar Kloiber, the secretary general of the World Medical Association, says there is now a growing understanding of the damage boxing causes to the brain.

Towell, 25, from Dundee, who went by the moniker “Iron Mike”, was rushed to hospital after a fifth-round knockout at the hands of Welsh fighter Dale Evans in a St Andrew’s Sporting Club fight at Glasgow’s Radisson Blu Hotel on Thursday. Evans said he was “devastated” and as tributes to the young boxer flooded in a JustGiving page to fundraise for his partner Chloe Ross and young son Rocoo – set up by retired boxer Ricky Hatton – had already raised over £15,000.

Former world champion Barry McGuigan described Towell’s death as “tragic”. But while defending the safety record of the industry, McGuigan, founder and president of the Professional Boxing Association, called for more work to be done surrounding the risks taken by fighters dehydrating themselves before weigh-ins.

The practice, which boxers told the Sunday Herald was common, leads to a reduction in fluid around the brain.

In a Facebook post, Towell’s partner Ross said the boxer died “peacefully” shortly after 11pm on Friday, 12 hours after he was taken off life support. He had suffered severe bleeding and swelling to the brain.

“I’m absolutely heartbroken,” she wrote, adding: “He had been complaining of headaches for the last few weeks but we put it down to migraines with the stress of his fight. It has been the longest 24 hours of our lives. My baby has lost his daddy. But he will be so so proud of his dad in what he achieved.”

Peter McCabe, chief executive of Headway said that the charity was “deeply saddened”, adding: “This was a young father in the prime of his life and our heartfelt thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time.”

McCabe said Towell’s death highlighted the dangers of boxing. Just seven months ago boxer Nick Blackwell was left in a coma following a bout with Chris Eubank Jr. “Tragically, this young family is paying the ultimate price,” added McCabe.

“Quite rightly, the focus at this time should be on supporting the family. But the question remains: how many more lives have to be damaged or lost before this senseless sport is banned?”

Alex Morrison, veteran boxing promoter, whose fighter Jim Murray was the last Scottish boxer to die after a fight, said Towell “came to my gym a few weeks ago. One of my boys was sparring with him and they had to stop because he had a migraine. You wonder if there was an issue even back then”.

He said that he had only learned of the migraine incident after Towell’s death. The boxer’s management have also insisted that they were unaware he was suffering from headaches at any point during training.

McGuigan said Towell’s death has rocked the whole of the boxing community. “The Boxing Board of Control is one of the best organisations in the world in terms of safety,” he added. “There are none that are better. [But] there is an issue around dehydration and rehydration that we still haven’t got right. Fighters will push themselves to the limit and when they rehydrate it can be hard to come back. It’s an ongoing process and we are continuing to work with medical associations but if a fighter isn’t telling the truth about making the weight, at the moment there are no tests that mean you can absolutely be sure. However, it’s important that we remember of all the physical contact sports it is the lowest in terms of injuries.”

Charlie Flynn, the Scottish Commonwealth gold medalist who turned professional in 2014, said while it was too early to say what had led to Towell’s death, dehydrating could be an issue. “When boxers haven’t taken enough fat off what you do is take the liquid out. That affects the amount of cerebral fluid that you have around your brain. The brain has no padding. That causes damage. I’ve done it myself and you feel terrible and you learn from it. Everyone in boxing knows the risks but it’s still shocking when something like this happens. He was a tough, tough guy and he loved the sport. He was gritty and a hard puncher, a great entertainer with a huge following.”

The World Medical Association’s Kloiber said death could be caused by a blow to the head resulting in a bleed on the brain which could take hours to develop. He added: “What then happens is that the pressure within the skull is building up and compresses the brain down to the brain stem, which finally kills you. The bottom line is boxing from a medical point of view is a very bad idea.”

In a statement released through the St Andrews Sporting Club, Towell’s opponent Evans said: “I never wanted to see my opponent being stretchered out of the ring. Who would ever want that sight? That was so hard for his family and my heart goes out to them.”

Scottish Government Sport Minister Aileen Campbell, said: “We are all saddened to hear of the death of Mike Towell last night following the boxing match at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.”

John Nicolson, SNP spokesman for Culture Media and Sport at Westminster, did not respond to requests for comment.