Pray for Oscar Diaz…
UPDATE (Sunday): He’s not out of the woods, but it looks a little better for Diaz. He’s been in a coma for a couple of days, and doctors believe it won’t be until late this week when he gets out of it.
The swelling on the brain has gone down and the brain is back in the normal size and position. He’s gone through the most difficult stage, but you never know with something like this.
The fact that he’s had no medical problems in the past and was an extremely healthy kid is working in his favor. Still, keep your thoughts with him and his family.
UPDATE: “They had to remove the left side of his cranium in order to help the swelling go down, which apparently was very bad,” said Ron Katz, the matchmaker of Star Promotions. “He had a subdural hematoma [bleeding on the brain], which was taken care of. During surgery, he apparently showed movement in his arms and his brain pressure was very good, according to the doctor.”
Katz received all his info from the Duva family who is still at the hospital with Diaz.
Diaz is heavily sedated but good news is that he was not placed into a medically-induced coma. He’s not out of the woods yet, so keep praying.
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
It’s with sad news that the Boneman returns to the blog game. Please keep Oscar Diaz and his family and friends in your prayers today and all through this weekend.
Last night on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights, the San Antonio welterweight collapsed between rounds 10 and 11 vs. Delvin Rodriguez. A sad sight anywhere, but even more tennse and scary because the fight was in San Antonio with all his family and friends wearing Diaz T-shirts.
Diaz underwent emergency surgery to relieve bleeding in the brain when you and I were both probably sleeping. It ended at just past 4 a.m. He’s in critical condition, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his and his family and friends.
Diaz, only 25, first made his mark on me three years ago. When I was a senior at OU, Diaz headlined a Friday Night Fights card on ESPN2 in Aug. 2005 at the Thunderbird Casino in Norman. It was my first chance to watch real, competitive boxing and Diaz never said anything about a nervous college reporter who was stumbling all over himself trying to conduct an interview. Diaz won a unanimous decision in the main event.
Diaz has been brought up by a who’s who in boxing with legendary trainers Lou Duva and Tommy Brooks. They’ve always seen something special in the kid. His pro career hasn’t panned out the way they had hoped, but he’s been a solid professional every step of the way.
Diaz was in a war with veteran Golden Johnson two years. Johnson knocked him out. Other than that, he’s lived the normal life of a boxer. But boxing is anything but normal. One moment can change your life forever and sadly, that moment was last night for Diaz.
Diaz and Rodriguez were involved in a spirited contest for most of last night until a bad and worsening cut with each round to Diaz’s right eye turned the tide toward Rodriguez.
In between rounds 10 and 11, the referee asked Diaz how many fingers he was holding up. You couldn’t make out the audio, but no audio was needed as Diaz turned to the ropes and his legs buckled with only the ref keeping him from falling. Doctors were quickly on the scene and have undoubtedly saved the kid’s life for now.
I’ll keep you updated when I know more. That’s just how quickly something can change in boxing.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
I SAW DIAZ AS MY DAD HE WOULD ALWAYS TELL ME NOT TO GIVE UP SCHOOL BECAUSE I WILL BE SOMEBODY IN LIFE WE USE TO ALWAYS PLAY AROUND LIKE HE WAS MY DAD PEOPLE ASKED HIM AT THE FIGHT WHO IS THAT WITH U AND HE SAID THAT’S MY LITTLE GIRL AND I WAS EVERY WHERE WITH HIM I SAW EVERYTHING THAT HAPPIEN THAT NIGHT I WAS CHEERING HIM ON AND WHEN I SAW HIM FALL I STARTED CRYING I WAS MAD AND HURTING INSIDE BECAUSE THAT’S MY DADDY-LOVE ASHLEY MORENO
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!