Comments Thread For: Magomed Abdusalamov in Serious Condition in ICU

[pitbull2009]

Why would you be shocked if his career continuted?

Come on guy, you can't be serious. The man is in a friggin coma!

[balintawak]

Speedy Recovery

Just watched this guy a few days ago. He fought with skill and guts - maybe too much courage for his own good. He was getting badly beaten in the later rounds. I hope the best for him and his family.

This is one of the dangers of this sport, and it is one of the reasons why I have mixed feelings about this sport.

[FeFist]

I wonder what kind of influence the network has on the way a match if officiated. I say this because as soon there was this big hoo-hah about the Gatti v Ward documentary, I was worried that something like this would happen. I got the impression that people would want to recreate their trilogy, at the expense of fighters' safety. Belief was somewhat strengthened when T.Weeks overlooked the corner and asked Alvarado directly if he wanted to continue.

Even if what I suspect isn't true, it doesn't change the fact that officials need to do more to secure a fighters safety. It's worrying that in this day and age I'd expect a street fight to get parted, sooner than a regulated fight, when it is clear that one fighter can take no more.

[786]

But when this happens (Or if the fighter quits after taking too many power punches) armchair warriors come out in full force insulting the fighter and labeling him a quitter and calling him all kinds of names. If you argue against them, they refute your argument by bringing up fights in which fighters fought through with an injury like a broken jaw, etc. Which ever fighter doesn't reenact these valiant performances when given the chance, is a lesser man in their eyes, deemed unworthy of the label of "warrior".

If the fighter goes on to continue fighting even when he is taking too many clean power punches to the head, and his career starts dwindling after that, fans say "Fighter A ruined him" or "He was a warrior, but he should have quit in that fight, he was ******." Basically you can never win with boxing fans, they are too judgmental.

Great post.

[New England]

I wonder what kind of influence the network has on the way a match if officiated. I say this because as soon there was this big hoo-hah about the Gatti v Ward documentary, I was worried that something like this would happen. I got the impression that people would want to recreate their trilogy, at the expense of fighters' safety. Belief was somewhat strengthened when T.Weeks overlooked the corner and asked Alvarado directly if he wanted to continue.

Even if what I suspect isn't true, it doesn't change the fact that officials need to do more to secure a fighters safety. It's worrying that in this day and age I'd expect a street fight to get parted, sooner than a regulated fight, when it is clear that one fighter can take no more.

ridiculous.


i watched the fight again yesterday, paying close attention to magomed in the last few rounds. there's no way at all to tell that magomed was so badly damaged. he was reeling around the ring a bit, but he was throwing back hard punches and remaining as responsible as he could defensively, given his lack of handspeed and stiff upper body. the fight could have been stopped becuse it wasn't competitive, and magomed was taking a lot of shots and had been for 10 rounds, but there was no point where hte damage was so severe that a referee stoppage was absolutely necessary.


it's absurd to blame HBO. there are so many other places to lay blame. HBO has zero influence over the ref and doctor. they also have zero influence over the corner. those are the guys to look at, not HBO.

[CubanGuyNYC]

ridiculous.


i watched the fight again yesterday, paying close attention to magomed in the last few rounds. there's no way at all to tell that magomed was so badly damaged. he was reeling around the ring a bit, but he was throwing back hard punches and remaining as responsible as he could defensively, given his lack of handspeed and stiff upper body. the fight could have been stopped becuse it wasn't competitive, and magomed was taking a lot of shots and had been for 10 rounds, but there was no point where hte damage was so severe that a referee stoppage was absolutely necessary.


it's absurd to blame HBO. there are so many other places to lay blame. HBO has zero influence over the ref and doctor. they also have zero influence over the corner. those are the guys to look at, not HBO.

Agreed. That's why I don't blame Mago's corner, or anyone else, for what happened. We've all seen many brutal fights where neither combatant sustained serious, irreversible injury.

[Russian Crushin]

This fight made the front of the NY Post today, some shocking things revealed:

Comatose boxer OK’d by doctors after fight

A Russian fighter was beaten into a coma in a 10-round bloodbath at MSG that horrified spectators — and now state boxing officials are probing whether he was given proper post-match medical care.
Magomed Abdusalamov, 32, suffered a massive stroke from the Saturday night pummeling by Cuban heavyweight Mike Perez, which was broadcast nationally on HBO.
Abdusalamov — dubbed the Russian Tyson for scoring 18 straight knockouts — also broke his nose, hand and jaw in a bout that left his face so disfigured that even the fans were tweeting their dismay.
The battered fighter’s face resembled “a fiery six-car pileup on the highway. Ugly, terrible, tragic yet you can’t look away,” one person tweeted.
Another wrote he, “started to look like the dude off Goonies,” referring to the disfigured character Sloth.
Perez won the fight by decision, and the bloodied Abdusalamov returned to his dressing room, where he waited for medical treatment until he was hastily examined by two doctors.
One just took a urine sample to test for drugs.
The other merely said “Count one, two, three, four, five” and then told the fighter to go to a hospital to have his broken nose looked at,” Boris Grinberg, Abdusalamov’s manager, told New York magazine.
“They give him no attention! No ambulance!” Grinberg fumed.
The Russian, who hails from the former Soviet republic of Dagestan, staggered out of the Garden and threw up on the street.
Grinberg and some passersby got him into a taxi and made their way almost 30 blocks north to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital. As he waited to be seen in the ER, Abdusalamov vomited again and then passed out.
Modal Trigger
Doctors performed a CAT scan and found swelling and a blood clot in the fighter’s brain.
They performed emergency surgery, removing a section of his skull to reduce the pressure and putting him in a medically induced coma because of the stroke.
“He’s still in a coma. He’s been the same the past couple of days,” Nathan Lewkowicz, vice-president of Sampson Boxing, which promotes Abdusalamov, told The Post.
“He was checked out and the doctors let him go. From what it looks like, maybe they should have checked him out more.”

Several officials had the authority to stop the fight, including Referee Benjy Esteves Jr., and five ringside doctors, including Dr. Barry Jordan, the Chief Medical Officer for the NYSAC, who was monitoring the bout.
But a source told The Post doctors are hesitant to call fights for fear they won’t be assigned to work future bouts.
Abdusalamov’s heartbroken wife and his three daughters flew up from the family’s Florida home to be by his side at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital.
“They should have stopped it after the first round when he broke his hand,: said his grieving wife, Bakanay Abdusalamova, 27. “I just want to turn back time. I look at him and I still can’t believe it happened.”
Grinberg told the magazine his fighter should have gotten better medical care after the bout.
“It is horrible. I am not afraid to say it. New York State Athletic Commission is horrible. It is dangerous for these people to be so careless and not do anything,” Grinberg said.
NYSAC spokesman Lazaro Benitez said, “Our primary concern is the health and safety of all athletes licensed by the New York State Athletic Commission. The Department of State is conducting a thorough inquiry into whether existing health and safety protocols were followed by NYSAC, and its employees and licensees in attendance at the event.
‘Should our investigation reveal a need, DOS stands ready to implement immediate corrective action.”
The fighter’s manager and other experts said the bout should have been stopped — even though the tough-as-nails Russian kept on slugging right until the 10th and final round.
Hall of Fame fight promoter Bob Arum said, “We’ve got to educate corner people to realize that when a fighter is getting beaten and beaten badly that they can’t be ****** and think a miracle is going to happen and risk getting permanently injured.”

[I Love Jesus!]

I wonder what kind of influence the network has on the way a match if officiated. I say this because as soon there was this big hoo-hah about the Gatti v Ward documentary, I was worried that something like this would happen. I got the impression that people would want to recreate their trilogy, at the expense of fighters' safety. Belief was somewhat strengthened when T.Weeks overlooked the corner and asked Alvarado directly if he wanted to continue.

Even if what I suspect isn't true, it doesn't change the fact that officials need to do more to secure a fighters safety. It's worrying that in this day and age I'd expect a street fight to get parted, sooner than a regulated fight, when it is clear that one fighter can take no more.

bhop did an interview about a week ago saying the networks have been demanding blood and guts

[New England]

bhop did an interview about a week ago saying the networks have been demanding blood and guts

hopkins has a stake in saying stuff like that. he's a negative fighter himself.


networks obviously want action. they do not want people to die or sustain life changing injuries on their airwaves. that is crazy. at the very least, it's bad for business. on a human level it is something nobody wants to see, including an exec at HBO sports.

[deanrw]

There is still a chance he can beat this and live a normal life. His story mirrors that of Z Gorres and Gorres was able to get through it and is living normally again against all odds.

If he does pull through he'll have a long road ahead of him, but it is not impossible.