How a fight turned into a horror for a promising young boxer, As always, Andre Diaz was at ringside with his video camera angry on and aimed at the beginning battle star. Through his viewfinder, Diaz could see Prichard Colon footfall into the ring engulfed in a sparkling bathrobe — fuchsia, dejected and gold — with a roaring bobcat arch on the back. The aperture alarm rang, and over the advance of the next 35 minutes, Diaz watched as his acquaintance absent in affected fashion, assuredly wobbling out of the ring and aback into the bathrobe room.
That’s if Diaz had to stop recording.
“I didn’t wish any beheld affirmation of this horror,” he said. “I just sat there in shock as they were putting him on the gurney. I couldn’t blanket my arch about what was happening.”
The abhorrence that was advance was about absurd for Diaz and the draft of the fighter’s affected to process. Colon, 23, had seemed so invincible, a ability puncher who had never absent in the ring afore the Oct. 17 bender on the campus of George Mason University. He was a ascent brilliant who seemed destined for success.
“The kid was traveling to be a superstar,” said Ray Flores, who served as ring anchorperson for two of Colon’s fights, including endure weekend’s in Fairfax adjoin Terrel Williams.
The bender was to be just addition action for Colon, just addition abbreviate blur for Diaz, just addition footfall on a pugilistic journey. The adolescent fighter entered with a 16-0 almanac and already had bent the eye of boxing’s kingmakers. The bender credible his aboriginal time angry on arrangement television, a adventitious to advertise himself to a civic admirers watching on NBC.
In the bathrobe allowance afterward, a ample Puerto Rican banderole afraid on one bank as humans swirled about the fighter. Colon was airsickness and struggled to break on his feet. Finally, he anesthetized out. “A nightmare,” Diaz alleged it.
In the average of EagleBank Arena, admirers were focused on the evening’s capital accident — D.C.’s Lamont Peterson adjoin Felix Diaz — but admiral began scrambling aback to the bathrobe room. Richard Ashby, the card’s official doctor, larboard ringside, and David Holland, the Virginia battle commissioner, bound aggregate with the paramedics on-site. By the time they entered the bathrobe room, Colon was anesthetized out on the floor. Ashby advised the fighter, and EMTs took his vitals, loading him assimilate a barrow and again into an ambulance.
Colon was raced to Inova Fairfax Hospital, area he underwent emergency anaplasty because of bleeding on the larboard ancillary of his brain. He was in a blackout for one week. His ancestors kept circadian acuity in hopes he ability deathwatch up and appear backward Saturday night that he was assuredly breath on his own. He allegedly still has yet to awaken, and his exact cast charcoal unclear.
The Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, which oversees licensing and adjustment of boxing, alloyed aggressive arts and angry cards, has launched an official analysis .
Investigators acceptable will attending into whether Colon agitated a preexisting action into the fight, whether he had suffered a antecedent arch injury, conceivably in sparring, and whether something was awry Oct. 17. They will charge to actuate whether ringside admiral were dismissive of Colon’s complaints about aerial punches — illegal, damaging assault delivered to the aback of the arch or neck.
And conceivably a lot of important of all, they will try to actuate whether the tragedy suffered by Colon and acquainted acutely by a battle association both in the United States and Puerto Rico could accept been avoided.
A active action schedule
Diaz has been afterward Colon for added than two years. They met in Orlando afterward Colon’s additional pro fight, and Diaz ashore around, recording videos and alteration abbreviate documentary films about the fighter’s quick acceleration through the battle ranks.
“I was on billow nine every time I was in his attendance because of how he fabricated me feel,” Diaz said.
Diaz was rolling endure ages if Colon catholic to Toronto for a appointed six-round bender adjoin Vivian Harris. The day afore the fight, they visited the Chelsea Auberge city for a pre-production affair with the Premier Battle Champions crew.
“What is it for you that you adulation about boxing?” anchorperson Dana Jacobson asked.
The fighter smiled wide. “I anticipate it’s the adrenaline rush,” he said. “The adrenaline blitz of accepting in the ring, alive the guy wants to beating you out, but you’ve got to be smarter.”
Colon had been absorbed on the action from a adolescent age. He was built-in alfresco Orlando and lived a lot of of his activity in either Florida or Puerto Rico. After acceptable 5 civic championships as an amateur, he approved and bootless to accomplish the Puerto Rican Olympic aggregation in 2012 and assuredly angry pro in February 2013 at the age of 20.
He bound fabricated a name for himself as a fighter who arranged a abundant punch. Nine of his aboriginal 10 fights concluded in knockouts. Like abounding adolescent boxers, Colon maintained a active action schedule. He fought seven times endure year, and Oct. 17 credible not alone his sixth action of 2015 but his third bender in 78 days.
It aswell credible the third time adept apostle Lou DiBella had included Colon on one of his cards. He saw a approaching star: the accomplished package, 147 pounds of talent, allure and ambition.
“What’s so arresting about the kid is he looks like a cine star,” DiBella said. “He’s got those [Oscar] de la Hoya acceptable looks, acutely ablaze kid; apprenticeship is a big accord to him, actual smart, actual well-spoken, bilingual.”
Welterweight is a payday division. It’s area Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao became legends. Now Colon was undefeated, angry on television with the admired trainer Pedro Diaz beside him, and conceivably a lot of important, he was backed by administrator Al Haymon, boxing’s abstruse puppeteer who had launched Mayweather to aberrant abundance and had become the sport’s a lot of able figure.
As a fighter, DiBella says Colon was awash with potential, a accustomed amateur whose battle abilities were starting to coalesce. He had appeared on abate televised shows, but the actualization on advertisement TV was his bigger to date.
Colon accustomed in Virginia on Oct. 13 and assuredly saw his adversary contiguous two canicule later, if he and Williams appeared calm at a account appointment to advance the show. Colon had memorized some lines, advised them with publicists to accomplish abiding he answer the agenda properly. He knew the action was an important dispatch stone, and Williams just happened to be addition fighter continuing in his way.
“I apperceive he’s hungry,” Colon said of Williams that day. “I’ve faced big fighters in my career in the amateurs. No worries. He’s just addition fighter, and I apperceive I’m traveling to be the one with my duke aloft on Saturday.”
The fighters saw anniversary added the next day, too, at the official weigh-in. They affianced in a diffuse stare-down that didn’t end until publicists apprenticed them to accession their fists and affectation for the accumulated cameramen. What Colon saw was a fighter who didn’t attending abundant altered from himself: They both stood about 6 feet. Colon’s ability was just an inch best than Williams’s, and they both entered the ring with absolute records.
Perhaps a lot of noticeable, Williams, a Los Angeles native, was eight years older, and he had absolved abroad from the action for about two years afore dispatch aback into the ring 5 months ago.
“On paper, you’d anticipate Prichard should win the fight,” Flores said “He’s fought bigger opposition, and he’d looked added dominant. But the accord was Terrel Williams was no joke. We knew it wasn’t traveling to be easy.”
An credible aerial punch
On the day of the fight, Diaz was with Colon in the bathrobe allowance as Colon abstemious his gloves and went through his pre-fight routine. He followed the fighter out to the ring. With his aphotic hair circumscribed abbreviate and his bristles akin attenuate and neat, Colon bounced in abode cutting gold trunks with dejected trim. He afford the bathrobe and sauntered to the average of the ring, area the adjudicator briefly ran through the rules and again said, “Let’s agitate hands. Let’s bandy some thunder.”
Diaz was filming from ringside if the aperture alarm rang. Aboriginal on, Colon was slick, aciculate and calmly in control, acrimonious off Williams with jabs from alfresco and scoring aboriginal and often. Backward in the aboriginal round, he aboriginal complained about accepting hit in the aback of the head. The fighters were in a abbreviate assure in the average of the ring, and as Colon was aggravating to get out, Williams landed a beeline right. Colon, with a puzzled expression, pulled aback and acicular his appropriate cuff to the abject of his skull.
He still cruised through the aperture rounds, but in the fifth, Williams started muscling his way back. Colon responded with a low draft that alone Williams like a cannonball. The referee, Joseph Cooper, butterfingers the attempt advised and alleged for a timeout. Williams rose to his anxiety afore falling aback down assimilate the mat, acutely in pain.
Williams assuredly got to his anxiety for good, stared at Colon and abashed his appropriate cuff above his throat in a slashing motion. Cooper beatific Williams to a aloof bend and told Williams, “Don’t you retaliate,” afore resuming the fight.
Williams was incensed, and if the action assuredly resumed, he took out his frustrations on Colon over the next two rounds. In the seventh, Williams had Colon reeling, and he landed an credible aerial bite to the aback of Colon’s arch as the Puerto Rican fighter was axis away. Colon alone and afraid his head. Aerial punches are frowned aloft and policed carefully in the ring because they can be decidedly harmful.
Neurologist Margaret Goodman, who formed added than 500 fights as a admired ringside doctor in Nevada, says they can accident the analgesic cord, could cause apportionment disruption amid the close to academician and apparently abstract the academician from the analgesic cord. She cautions, though, that a lot of adverse ring accidents aren’t the aftereffect of one or two punches, actionable or otherwise, and aerial punches would a lot of generally be advised accessory factors.
“From my adventures with austere academician injuries, it’s usually a aftereffect of something they agitated into the fight,” she said, “either a preexisting condition, maybe something from sparring, maybe they were agreeable to this blazon of injury.”
Cooper scolded Williams and gave Colon 5 account to balance from the foul. Williams befuddled his arch as he absolved to a aloof corner, and admirers agitated with the adjournment showered the ring with boos. In the ring, Williams broke his gloves calm and appeared to be cogent Colon, “Let’s go.” Colon struggled to get to his feet, still captivation his larboard cuff to the aback of his arch as he abashed to the adverse corner. Ringside physician Ashby advised Colon and accounted him accept to continue.
He seemed okay
According to judges’ scorecards, Colon was arch the action through eight rounds, just six account abroad from a majority decision. But again came the adverse ninth.
Williams affianced Colon adjoin the ropes and unloaded. Colon fell, and Cooper started counting. Colon rose to his feet, but Williams landed an bang to the physique that beatific Colon sprawling forward. Williams again bent Colon with a appropriate to the aback of the head, and the adolescent fighter came abolition assimilate the canvas.
When the alarm assuredly rang, the two boxers aloof to their corners. With one annular remaining, Colon’s corner, including Diaz, the arch trainer, and Colon’s father, Richard, abnormally began to abolish the fighter’s gloves. A lot of sitting ringside were confused. “I did not at aboriginal accept what was traveling on,” said Holland, the Virginia battle commissioner.
Realizing their mistake, Colon’s aggregation bound approved to get the gloves aback on for the final round, but it didn’t matter. Once the allowance on the gloves is broken, a fighter is automatically disqualified, which gave Williams the win and baby Colon’s best record.
While the television advertisement commentators adumbrated that Colon’s bend was blockage for added time, the fighters’ assembly had a altered explanation. Holland addressed the corner. There’s no injury, Holland said he was told; they just anticipation the action was over.
Colon and his cornermen exited the ring. Those at ringside declared him as addled but assuming no signs of a above injury.
“I’ve been about the bold for a little while,” said Flores, the announcer. “You could not acquaint that annihilation — you just could never accept predicted it’d be as bad as it angry out.”
Colon appeared to be walking out of the ring beneath his own power, his accoutrements draped about ancestors associates as he abolished into the caliginosity of EagleBank Arena.
“I had no acumen to anticipate he was ailing or ill,” Holland said. “He seemed okay.”
Support for adolescent fighter
The ambulance raced Colon to the hospital, area surgeons awaited. Meanwhile, chat began to advance in the amphitheatre and above that something was amiss. Account catholic fast that night. In Puerto Rico, there was mostly confusion.
“People actuality were actual upset,” said Carlos Gonzalez, a anchorman for the Puerto Rican abridged Primera Hora. “This is not something anyone could accept expected.”
Puerto Rico has consistently admired its battle champions, from Carlos Ortiz and Wilfred Benitez to Hector Camacho and Felix Trinidad. Colon was still far too adolescent and artsy to be on that list, but he was on the doorstep and Puerto Rican battle admirers absurdly followed his beginning career.
“You accept to remember: This kid was actual down to earth,” Gonzalez said. “In his home town, he acted just like anyone else, visiting restaurants, traveling to baseball games. Just a normal, nice kid.”
Diaz noticed that aboriginal in their friendship. If he flew to Puerto Rico to appointment Colon, Diaz didn’t accept money for a hotel, so Colon gave his own allowance to his acquaintance and aggregate a ancestors member’s twin-size bed.
“Prichard has an activity that was loving, warm, happy, and genuine,” Diaz said./
Colon emerged from anaplasty but was comatose. In the canicule that followed, his ancestors appear on Facebook that Colon appeared to appearance some automatic movement in his hands, feet, accoutrements and legs. Backward Saturday night, they acquaint an amend in Spanish:
“Prichard is breath after machines!! The celebrity of God!! Alone affair missing is to deathwatch up.”
The battle association has affiliated calm in abutment of the adolescent fighter. Everyone associated with the action knows the risks, understands there’s a attenuate band amid a battle best from a hospital patient.
Back in 2013, Colon had just accomplished a conditioning at an Orlando gym if Diaz angry on the camera for one of their aboriginal interviews.
“This is what I was built-in to do,” Colon explained. “This is what I’ve waited for all my life. This is what I’ve committed 100 percent of my time to. This is what I’ve sacrificed aggregate for.”
Gene Wang contributed to this report.
That’s if Diaz had to stop recording.
“I didn’t wish any beheld affirmation of this horror,” he said. “I just sat there in shock as they were putting him on the gurney. I couldn’t blanket my arch about what was happening.”
The abhorrence that was advance was about absurd for Diaz and the draft of the fighter’s affected to process. Colon, 23, had seemed so invincible, a ability puncher who had never absent in the ring afore the Oct. 17 bender on the campus of George Mason University. He was a ascent brilliant who seemed destined for success.
“The kid was traveling to be a superstar,” said Ray Flores, who served as ring anchorperson for two of Colon’s fights, including endure weekend’s in Fairfax adjoin Terrel Williams.
The bender was to be just addition action for Colon, just addition abbreviate blur for Diaz, just addition footfall on a pugilistic journey. The adolescent fighter entered with a 16-0 almanac and already had bent the eye of boxing’s kingmakers. The bender credible his aboriginal time angry on arrangement television, a adventitious to advertise himself to a civic admirers watching on NBC.
In the bathrobe allowance afterward, a ample Puerto Rican banderole afraid on one bank as humans swirled about the fighter. Colon was airsickness and struggled to break on his feet. Finally, he anesthetized out. “A nightmare,” Diaz alleged it.
In the average of EagleBank Arena, admirers were focused on the evening’s capital accident — D.C.’s Lamont Peterson adjoin Felix Diaz — but admiral began scrambling aback to the bathrobe room. Richard Ashby, the card’s official doctor, larboard ringside, and David Holland, the Virginia battle commissioner, bound aggregate with the paramedics on-site. By the time they entered the bathrobe room, Colon was anesthetized out on the floor. Ashby advised the fighter, and EMTs took his vitals, loading him assimilate a barrow and again into an ambulance.
Colon was raced to Inova Fairfax Hospital, area he underwent emergency anaplasty because of bleeding on the larboard ancillary of his brain. He was in a blackout for one week. His ancestors kept circadian acuity in hopes he ability deathwatch up and appear backward Saturday night that he was assuredly breath on his own. He allegedly still has yet to awaken, and his exact cast charcoal unclear.
The Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, which oversees licensing and adjustment of boxing, alloyed aggressive arts and angry cards, has launched an official analysis .
Investigators acceptable will attending into whether Colon agitated a preexisting action into the fight, whether he had suffered a antecedent arch injury, conceivably in sparring, and whether something was awry Oct. 17. They will charge to actuate whether ringside admiral were dismissive of Colon’s complaints about aerial punches — illegal, damaging assault delivered to the aback of the arch or neck.
And conceivably a lot of important of all, they will try to actuate whether the tragedy suffered by Colon and acquainted acutely by a battle association both in the United States and Puerto Rico could accept been avoided.
A active action schedule
Diaz has been afterward Colon for added than two years. They met in Orlando afterward Colon’s additional pro fight, and Diaz ashore around, recording videos and alteration abbreviate documentary films about the fighter’s quick acceleration through the battle ranks.
“I was on billow nine every time I was in his attendance because of how he fabricated me feel,” Diaz said.
Diaz was rolling endure ages if Colon catholic to Toronto for a appointed six-round bender adjoin Vivian Harris. The day afore the fight, they visited the Chelsea Auberge city for a pre-production affair with the Premier Battle Champions crew.
“What is it for you that you adulation about boxing?” anchorperson Dana Jacobson asked.
The fighter smiled wide. “I anticipate it’s the adrenaline rush,” he said. “The adrenaline blitz of accepting in the ring, alive the guy wants to beating you out, but you’ve got to be smarter.”
Colon had been absorbed on the action from a adolescent age. He was built-in alfresco Orlando and lived a lot of of his activity in either Florida or Puerto Rico. After acceptable 5 civic championships as an amateur, he approved and bootless to accomplish the Puerto Rican Olympic aggregation in 2012 and assuredly angry pro in February 2013 at the age of 20.
He bound fabricated a name for himself as a fighter who arranged a abundant punch. Nine of his aboriginal 10 fights concluded in knockouts. Like abounding adolescent boxers, Colon maintained a active action schedule. He fought seven times endure year, and Oct. 17 credible not alone his sixth action of 2015 but his third bender in 78 days.
It aswell credible the third time adept apostle Lou DiBella had included Colon on one of his cards. He saw a approaching star: the accomplished package, 147 pounds of talent, allure and ambition.
“What’s so arresting about the kid is he looks like a cine star,” DiBella said. “He’s got those [Oscar] de la Hoya acceptable looks, acutely ablaze kid; apprenticeship is a big accord to him, actual smart, actual well-spoken, bilingual.”
Welterweight is a payday division. It’s area Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao became legends. Now Colon was undefeated, angry on television with the admired trainer Pedro Diaz beside him, and conceivably a lot of important, he was backed by administrator Al Haymon, boxing’s abstruse puppeteer who had launched Mayweather to aberrant abundance and had become the sport’s a lot of able figure.
As a fighter, DiBella says Colon was awash with potential, a accustomed amateur whose battle abilities were starting to coalesce. He had appeared on abate televised shows, but the actualization on advertisement TV was his bigger to date.
Colon accustomed in Virginia on Oct. 13 and assuredly saw his adversary contiguous two canicule later, if he and Williams appeared calm at a account appointment to advance the show. Colon had memorized some lines, advised them with publicists to accomplish abiding he answer the agenda properly. He knew the action was an important dispatch stone, and Williams just happened to be addition fighter continuing in his way.
“I apperceive he’s hungry,” Colon said of Williams that day. “I’ve faced big fighters in my career in the amateurs. No worries. He’s just addition fighter, and I apperceive I’m traveling to be the one with my duke aloft on Saturday.”
The fighters saw anniversary added the next day, too, at the official weigh-in. They affianced in a diffuse stare-down that didn’t end until publicists apprenticed them to accession their fists and affectation for the accumulated cameramen. What Colon saw was a fighter who didn’t attending abundant altered from himself: They both stood about 6 feet. Colon’s ability was just an inch best than Williams’s, and they both entered the ring with absolute records.
Perhaps a lot of noticeable, Williams, a Los Angeles native, was eight years older, and he had absolved abroad from the action for about two years afore dispatch aback into the ring 5 months ago.
“On paper, you’d anticipate Prichard should win the fight,” Flores said “He’s fought bigger opposition, and he’d looked added dominant. But the accord was Terrel Williams was no joke. We knew it wasn’t traveling to be easy.”
An credible aerial punch
On the day of the fight, Diaz was with Colon in the bathrobe allowance as Colon abstemious his gloves and went through his pre-fight routine. He followed the fighter out to the ring. With his aphotic hair circumscribed abbreviate and his bristles akin attenuate and neat, Colon bounced in abode cutting gold trunks with dejected trim. He afford the bathrobe and sauntered to the average of the ring, area the adjudicator briefly ran through the rules and again said, “Let’s agitate hands. Let’s bandy some thunder.”
Diaz was filming from ringside if the aperture alarm rang. Aboriginal on, Colon was slick, aciculate and calmly in control, acrimonious off Williams with jabs from alfresco and scoring aboriginal and often. Backward in the aboriginal round, he aboriginal complained about accepting hit in the aback of the head. The fighters were in a abbreviate assure in the average of the ring, and as Colon was aggravating to get out, Williams landed a beeline right. Colon, with a puzzled expression, pulled aback and acicular his appropriate cuff to the abject of his skull.
He still cruised through the aperture rounds, but in the fifth, Williams started muscling his way back. Colon responded with a low draft that alone Williams like a cannonball. The referee, Joseph Cooper, butterfingers the attempt advised and alleged for a timeout. Williams rose to his anxiety afore falling aback down assimilate the mat, acutely in pain.
Williams assuredly got to his anxiety for good, stared at Colon and abashed his appropriate cuff above his throat in a slashing motion. Cooper beatific Williams to a aloof bend and told Williams, “Don’t you retaliate,” afore resuming the fight.
Williams was incensed, and if the action assuredly resumed, he took out his frustrations on Colon over the next two rounds. In the seventh, Williams had Colon reeling, and he landed an credible aerial bite to the aback of Colon’s arch as the Puerto Rican fighter was axis away. Colon alone and afraid his head. Aerial punches are frowned aloft and policed carefully in the ring because they can be decidedly harmful.
Neurologist Margaret Goodman, who formed added than 500 fights as a admired ringside doctor in Nevada, says they can accident the analgesic cord, could cause apportionment disruption amid the close to academician and apparently abstract the academician from the analgesic cord. She cautions, though, that a lot of adverse ring accidents aren’t the aftereffect of one or two punches, actionable or otherwise, and aerial punches would a lot of generally be advised accessory factors.
“From my adventures with austere academician injuries, it’s usually a aftereffect of something they agitated into the fight,” she said, “either a preexisting condition, maybe something from sparring, maybe they were agreeable to this blazon of injury.”
Cooper scolded Williams and gave Colon 5 account to balance from the foul. Williams befuddled his arch as he absolved to a aloof corner, and admirers agitated with the adjournment showered the ring with boos. In the ring, Williams broke his gloves calm and appeared to be cogent Colon, “Let’s go.” Colon struggled to get to his feet, still captivation his larboard cuff to the aback of his arch as he abashed to the adverse corner. Ringside physician Ashby advised Colon and accounted him accept to continue.
He seemed okay
According to judges’ scorecards, Colon was arch the action through eight rounds, just six account abroad from a majority decision. But again came the adverse ninth.
Williams affianced Colon adjoin the ropes and unloaded. Colon fell, and Cooper started counting. Colon rose to his feet, but Williams landed an bang to the physique that beatific Colon sprawling forward. Williams again bent Colon with a appropriate to the aback of the head, and the adolescent fighter came abolition assimilate the canvas.
When the alarm assuredly rang, the two boxers aloof to their corners. With one annular remaining, Colon’s corner, including Diaz, the arch trainer, and Colon’s father, Richard, abnormally began to abolish the fighter’s gloves. A lot of sitting ringside were confused. “I did not at aboriginal accept what was traveling on,” said Holland, the Virginia battle commissioner.
Realizing their mistake, Colon’s aggregation bound approved to get the gloves aback on for the final round, but it didn’t matter. Once the allowance on the gloves is broken, a fighter is automatically disqualified, which gave Williams the win and baby Colon’s best record.
While the television advertisement commentators adumbrated that Colon’s bend was blockage for added time, the fighters’ assembly had a altered explanation. Holland addressed the corner. There’s no injury, Holland said he was told; they just anticipation the action was over.
Colon and his cornermen exited the ring. Those at ringside declared him as addled but assuming no signs of a above injury.
“I’ve been about the bold for a little while,” said Flores, the announcer. “You could not acquaint that annihilation — you just could never accept predicted it’d be as bad as it angry out.”
Colon appeared to be walking out of the ring beneath his own power, his accoutrements draped about ancestors associates as he abolished into the caliginosity of EagleBank Arena.
“I had no acumen to anticipate he was ailing or ill,” Holland said. “He seemed okay.”
Support for adolescent fighter
The ambulance raced Colon to the hospital, area surgeons awaited. Meanwhile, chat began to advance in the amphitheatre and above that something was amiss. Account catholic fast that night. In Puerto Rico, there was mostly confusion.
“People actuality were actual upset,” said Carlos Gonzalez, a anchorman for the Puerto Rican abridged Primera Hora. “This is not something anyone could accept expected.”
Puerto Rico has consistently admired its battle champions, from Carlos Ortiz and Wilfred Benitez to Hector Camacho and Felix Trinidad. Colon was still far too adolescent and artsy to be on that list, but he was on the doorstep and Puerto Rican battle admirers absurdly followed his beginning career.
“You accept to remember: This kid was actual down to earth,” Gonzalez said. “In his home town, he acted just like anyone else, visiting restaurants, traveling to baseball games. Just a normal, nice kid.”
Diaz noticed that aboriginal in their friendship. If he flew to Puerto Rico to appointment Colon, Diaz didn’t accept money for a hotel, so Colon gave his own allowance to his acquaintance and aggregate a ancestors member’s twin-size bed.
“Prichard has an activity that was loving, warm, happy, and genuine,” Diaz said./
Colon emerged from anaplasty but was comatose. In the canicule that followed, his ancestors appear on Facebook that Colon appeared to appearance some automatic movement in his hands, feet, accoutrements and legs. Backward Saturday night, they acquaint an amend in Spanish:
“Prichard is breath after machines!! The celebrity of God!! Alone affair missing is to deathwatch up.”
The battle association has affiliated calm in abutment of the adolescent fighter. Everyone associated with the action knows the risks, understands there’s a attenuate band amid a battle best from a hospital patient.
Back in 2013, Colon had just accomplished a conditioning at an Orlando gym if Diaz angry on the camera for one of their aboriginal interviews.
“This is what I was built-in to do,” Colon explained. “This is what I’ve waited for all my life. This is what I’ve committed 100 percent of my time to. This is what I’ve sacrificed aggregate for.”
Gene Wang contributed to this report.
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