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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Was a Brain-Damaged Fighter Allowed to Leave Madison Square Garden on His Own?
Undercard boxing matches between no-name fighters dont usually get much attention. But a bout on Saturday night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden (broadcast on HBO) pitting a Cuban-born fighter against one from the former Soviet republic of Dagestan has shocked the boxing world. As one of the more brutal and exciting heavyweight fights in recent memory, it blew up on Twitter while it was happening. But in the days since, the bout has taken on the full proportions of a public tragedy, with the Dagestani boxer now in a coma at St. Lukes Hospital and his family wondering why state boxing officials let the severely injured athlete walk out of the arena under his own power.
Magomed Abdusalamov was a bloody mess after ten punishing rounds against the faster, more skillful Cuban fighter. On Twitter, users remarked even joked about the grotesque swelling in his face, comparing it, for example, to "a fiery six-car pileup on the highway. Ugly, terrible, tragic yet you can't look away," or suggesting that the Dagestani was "starting to look like dude off Goonies." Despite the stomach-churning damage he endured, Abdusalamov never quit fighting or trying to win. In the end, he finished the bout on his feet, losing by unanimous decision. He arrived at the hospital later that night in a cab and collapsed waiting to see a doctor in the ER. Now hes about to begin the fifth day of a medically induced coma, shifting between critical and stable conditions. Abdusalamovs wife, three young daughters, other family members, and supporters have been holding a vigil in the ICU, waiting for him to wake from his coma, wondering how the boxing officials and the medical staff at the fight could have failed him so miserably.
After the fight, Abdusalamov waited for medical treatment in the dressing room. According to his manager, Boris Grinberg, two doctors inspected Abdusalamov at different times. One collected urine samples to test for drugs. The other looked the fighter over. He says, 'Count one, two, three, four, five
,' and then he tells him to make sure he goes to hospital tomorrow because his nose might be broken, Grinberg says. They give him no attention! No ambulance!
Abdusalamov walked outside the Garden just like the fans that paid to watch him fight. On the street corner, he started to vomit, Grinberg says. He then walked out to the street and, with the help of Grinbergs son and passersby, managed to hail a taxi. The closest emergency room was St. Lukes, nearly 30 blocks north through slow Saturday-night traffic. In the emergency room, Abdusalamov struggled to get attention. Grinberg was there, trying to get the emergency-room nurses to admit him. Abdusalamov started to vomit again. Then he passed out.
rest of story, he's in induced coma at Saint Lukes where the taxi dropped him off. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/11/brain-damaged-fighter-walked-out-of-msg.html?test=true
MADem
(135,425 posts)I'd probably enjoy myself more if the combatants put on those giant inflatable sumo suits and went at it in those. I just don't go for all the "personal injury that gives some a thrill.
Or maybe they could put people in bubble football suits and let them try to bounce one another out of the ring....?
malaise
(269,049 posts)Gambling
MADem
(135,425 posts)But without the gambling, it wouldn't be as popular.
I'd like to see inflatable sumo suit wrestling--with gambling!
B Calm
(28,762 posts)always try to get a ringside seat. Watching it on TV never excited me much. It is a very brutal sport!
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)They should have stopped it much earlier than they did and he should have been sent to the hospital right away.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Wow. That must have been horrific to witness.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)It was pretty bad to see it on the TV doohickey.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... does not equal "sport".
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)Are the big city hospitals really that busy with much worse condition incoming that this obviously severely injured person was left unattended?
Revanchist
(1,375 posts)They are much more prone to stop a fight as soon as it is apparent that the other fighter is unable, or shouldn't continue.
Evoman
(8,040 posts)Could never watch it. Was always a person trying to stop a fight rather than encourage it. Even in school, I only fought when I had to, and never encouraged schoolyard fights.
Boxing is two people beating each other for your amusement. You can try blowing smoke about technique and strategy, and I'll tell you to fuck off. Its gross, is primal, and it should be beneath us as a species.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)the promoters, organizers, boxing federation and state boxing commission all need to be called on the carpet for this...
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/nysac-article-1.1512108