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Boxer Lenin Castillo responsive, hospitalized after Callum Smith lands wild KO

Callum Smith (left) in action against Lenin Castillo
Lenin Castillo was stretchered out of the ring on Saturday night in London after his bout with Callum Smith.(Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)

Dominican boxer Lenin Castillo had to be stretchered out of the ring and taken to the hospital on Saturday night after suffering a brutal knockout at the hands of Callum Smith in London.

Castillo, the event promoter told The Associated Press, was “responsive” as medical staff at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tended to him on Saturday night before he was transported to a local hospital.

“It’s never nice to see that and you never want it to end that way,” Smith told the Liverpool Echo. “I apologized to his camp for celebrating — I hadn’t realized the extent that he was unresponsive. I hate when fighters celebrate when their opponent is in a bad way so I apologized.

“If it was one of my brothers lying there and an opponent celebrated I wouldn’t have liked it. It’s a sport at the end of the day. There’s more to life than boxing.”

Smith landed a punch right to Castillo’s head in the second round of the undercard bout, which sent him falling straight to the mat. Castillo’s legs started spasming as he was down, too, making for a scary scene as the official immediately ended the fight and called for medical assistance.

The win brings Smith's record to 28-1, and makes a nice rebound to his last bout in December — when he fell via unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez. Castillo now holds a 21-4-1 record.

Their fight was one of several ahead of the heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, which Usyk won via unanimous decision.