According to ESPN.com, Oscar Diaz is unconscious and breathing with the assistance of a ventilator following surgery to reduce swelling in his brain following his collapse in his corner between the 10th and 11th rounds of his fight on ESPN2's Wednesday Night Fights against Delvin Rodriguez.
As I mentioned earlier, I was watching this fight as it all happened, having chosen to devote my viewing attention to this rather than the sideshow that James Toney vs. Hasim Rahman inevitably had to be (and was). This was a tough, competitive fight between two guys desperately trying to remain in the hunt for a title shot - Diaz had almost ended the fight in the 4th round with a crushing right hand that almost lifted Rodriguez off the floor, Rocky-style, but somehow Rodriguez avoided going down. From there, Rodriguez had used a steady diet of stiff jabs a straight rights to seize control of the fight. In fact, Diaz's right eye had steadily closed during the fight to the point that it was nothing more than a slit with a giant mouse underneath it by the 10th round. Still, he looked fresh at the end of the round and for all the world like he still had a chance to land a solid punch and turn the fight around.
In talking to my wife about this after the fight, she mentioned that this was precisely the reason she doesn't watch boxing, although she can watch MMA - the damage that is caused by taking shot after shot in a long, tough fight like this versus the more spectacular (but far less dangerous long-term) one-punch KOs in MMA. Her point was that what makes a "great" fight - two evenly matched fighters who trade big shots back and forth for a long period of rounds - is also what is most likely to lead to significant damage, either short-term (like tonight) or long-term.
I didn't really have any response to offer in boxing's behalf. Mainly I was too busy feeling a little sick to my stomach, thinking back to the live shots I watched of the paramedics swooping in on him and administering emergency medical techniques on him before the cameras cut away. Nights like tonight make me wonder if I have a screw loose for being a boxing fan.
On a side note: I watched SportsCenter, ESPN News and the various ESPN tickers for several hours after the fight, assuming that somewhere they would have some mention of the fight and an update on Diaz's condition. And...nothing. If ESPN is going to broadcast the fight, then they have an obligation to keep their audience informed about Diaz's condition during the night. Even saying something to the effect of "Diaz was taken to a local hospital; his condition is currently unknown" would have at least been acknowledgment of the severity of the situation. But I guess that we wouldn't have room for our 85th Brett Favre update of the night if we made time (or space on the ticker) for that...
