Opponent(Rodriguez) says Diaz corner is to blame

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/boxing/Opponent_says_Diaz_corner_is_to_blame.html The fighter whose devastating head blows left San Antonio boxer Oscar Diaz critically injured criticized Diaz’s corner Sunday for failing to protect him. “It’s their job to know when enough is enough,” Delvin Rodriguez said. “They should have stopped (the fight) sooner.” By the eighth round of their nationally televised bout Wednesday night at Municipal Auditorium, Rodriguez said he could tell Diaz was hurt. Rodriguez said he could feel his punches landing cleanly, so much so that his hands were hurting. But Diaz “kept coming and kept coming,” so Rodriguez said he kept punching and punching. And landing and landing. “I didn’t think they were going to let him continue,” Rodriguez said of Diaz’s corner. “At the latest, they should have stopped it after the ninth.” At the end of the 10th, the bout took a sudden and tragic turn when Diaz collapsed to the canvas and had to be rushed to the hospital. Diaz, 25, remains in critical condition at University Hospital with a severe brain injury. Doctors say he is stable, however, and expect him to survive. Lou Duva, Diaz’s longtime manager and a legendary member of boxing’s Hall of Fame, dismissed Rodriguez’s charges. “Does anybody in their right mind think if we thought he was hurt, we wouldn’t step in and stop the fight?” Duva said. “Anyone can be a Monday morning quarterback. You can’t put the blame on anybody.” Duva said the corner was concerned about Diaz’s right eye, which became a purple mass and was closed by the eighth round. He said Diaz was not listening to his trainer, Tommy Brooks, who wanted Diaz to fight on the inside where the taller Rodriguez couldn’t extend his arms and do as much damage with his punches. But Duva said everyone in his corner thought Diaz was still in the fight. “If I had seen any signs at all that something like this was going to happen,” he said, “I would have jumped in there.” Duva said the referee, Bobby Gonzales, who did eventually stop the fight, could have done so earlier, but didn’t. Gonzales could not be reached for comment Sunday. Rodriguez, 28, a native of the Dominican Republic who lives in Danbury, Conn., said he didn’t go to the hospital after the fight but made several attempts to contact Diaz’s family. He flew back to Danbury on Thursday morning and said he’s been searching the Internet and making daily calls for updates on Diaz’s condition. “They say he’s doing much better now,” Rodriguez said. “I’m really happy for that.” He said it’s been a rough few days for him. He says he knows the risks associated with boxing, that he was doing what he was supposed to do, fighting the way he was supposed to fight. “But, obviously, you kind of feel responsible,” he said. He called Diaz a “tough kid who comes to fight,” but that sometimes a fighter can be too brave for his own good. That’s when a fighter’s corner needs to step in and “do its job,” he said. Diaz update: Fernando Diaz said Sunday his brother’s condition continues to improve, however slowly. “His eye is almost back to normal now,” he said. “We’re just waiting for him to wake up. But the doctors said it could be a while yet.” Duva has returned to his home in New Jersey but plans to come back to San Antonio this week to stay with Diaz in the hospital. “I’ve got people all over the world praying for him,” Duva said.