Doctors, health experts and politicians have repeated demands that boxing should be banned following the death of Scottish fighter Mike Towell.

The 25-year-old boxer was carried from the ring on a stretcher after a fifth-round loss to Dale Evans in a St Andrew’s Sporting Club fight in Glasgow on Thursday night.

Towell, from Dundee, was rushed to the city’s Queen Elizabeth University hospital by ambulance accompanied by his promoter, Tommy Gilmour. His management said Towell passed away 24 hours later with his family at his bedside.

His death comes less than seven months after a bout between Chris Eubank Jr and Nick Blackwell ended the latter’s career after he suffered bleeding in his skull. The fight was stopped in the 10th round.

The brain injury charity Headway called for boxing to be banned. “This was a young father in the prime of his life and quite rightly, the focus at this time should be on supporting the family,” said Peter McCabe, Headway’s chief executive.

… how many lives have to be damaged or lost before this senseless sport is banned?

“But the question remains: how many more lives have to be damaged or lost before this senseless sport is banned? As long as boxing is allowed to continue, more and more young lives will be damaged or lost as a result of opponents deliberately trying to cause neurological harm to each other.”

Paul Flynn, the veteran Labour MP who has attempted to ban blows to the head in boxing through failed private member’s bills in 1998 and in 2005, described Towell’s death as a tragedy. “We ought to change the rules in many sports and realise that the head is a very delicate part of the body and to protect it, and minimise the number of blows the brain suffers.”

Flynn added that although there were many dangers in sports, the worst example was boxing. “The whole purpose of the sport is to render the opponent unconscious.”