The Japan Boxing Commission stirred up a controversy Tuesday when it decided to allow a hit-and-run suspect to step into the ring for a professional bout.
The JBC gave the go-ahead for Saturday's scheduled match involving Fukutaro Ujiie, a 20-year-old university student arrested on a charge of killing a 54-year-old man in Tokyo in a motorcycle accident and leaving the scene on the night of Oct. 19.
Ujiie, who obtained a professional license last year, ran over the drunken man in Nakano Ward and was arrested the following day.
He was later released while investigations continue.
Boxing officials said that while Ujiie admitted to running into the man, investigators have apparently found traces of another suspect believed to be involved in the case, an allegation which has been denied by investigators.
The JBC said the reason given for issuing the green light for the upcoming bout was that although not reporting the case to police was Ujiie's fault, it seems impossible that anyone could have avoided such an accident in the same circumstances.
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