Comatose boxer OK’d by doctors after fight
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Magomed Abdusalamov is punched in the face by Mike Perez during their bout Saturday night. The inset shows his face afterward.
Photo: Getty Images, YouTube
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.
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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 stupid and think a miracle is going to happen and risk getting permanently injured.”
Additional reporting by Bob Fredericks
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.
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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 stupid and think a miracle is going to happen and risk getting permanently injured.”
Additional reporting by Bob Fredericks
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