Merry,
In all honesty, you are absolutely correct. I am just horrified at how dangerous punches to the head can be. It is scary. You are right. Fighters die every single year.
What is particularly disturbing in this case is that it was amateur and his first fight. Most deaths occur in professionals, not all, but most. Most professionals do bad things to make weight, like dehydrate, which causes even more damage to the brain if you cannot re-hydrate fast enough before taking head shots.