The entire boxing world is still in shock after the news broke on Tuesday morning that Maxim Dadashev passed away four days after suffering a brain injury in a fight where his trainer Buddy McGirt pleaded with him to stop because of the number of punches he was taking in the fight.

Dadashev, 28, sustained brain severe swelling in an IBF eliminator against Subriel Matias in Oxon Hill, Maryland last week. The bout was stopped by McGirt following the 11th round after he took numerous shots to the head.

He was hospitalised after the bout and underwent surgery but his heart stopped on Tuesday.

Footage from the fight shows Dadashev shaking his head in his corner as McGirt pleads with him to stop the fight, telling him: "You're getting hit too much, Max. Please, Max, please let me do this."

Russian Boxing Federation secretary general Umar Kremlev said the federation would investigate whether anyone was at fault for Dadashev's death.

"We need to know the truth about what happened," Kremlev said in a statement. "I believe that some human factors intervened, that there was some kind of violation."

Dadashev was originally from the Russian city of Saint Petersburg but had fought exclusively in the United States since turning professional in 2016.

"He was a very kind person who fought until the very end," Dadashev's wife Elizaveta Apushkina said in a statement.

"Our son will continue [to] be raised to be a great man like his father. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone that cared for Maxim during his final days."

Dadashev, who had a 13-0 professional record prior to the bout with Matias, had been viewed as a rising star after beating former world lightweight champions Darleys Perez and Antonio DeMarco last year. He won 11 of his 13 fights by way of knockout.