Boxing
William Weinbaum, ESPN 6y

Father of ex-boxer Prichard Colon protesting fighter who felled him

Boxing

Richard Colon was there to see Terrel "Tyger" Williams' last fight and he's in Flint, Michigan, where Williams is on Friday night's Premier Boxing Champions card against Rosemberg Gomez.

But Colon didn't travel 1,200 miles from his central Florida home to be at Williams' first fight in exactly 25 months. He came to stage a protest at the undefeated junior middleweight's weigh-in on Thursday.

As an announcer introduced Williams at Thursday's proceedings, Colon yelled from the audience, "Yo, yo, yo, look over here, this is the guy who put my son in a coma."

Colon told ESPN's Outside the Lines he believes Williams should not be given the opportunity to return to boxing after his Oct. 17, 2015 fight left previously unbeaten Prichard Colon brain-damaged and unable to walk or talk.

Richard Colon, a former boxer, says Williams' repeated illegal rabbit punches produced the brain bleed that incapacitated his son.

Immediately after Colon's outburst, security ushered him out. He was holding up a sign saying, "Boxing NEEDS TO REFORM, # PRAY 4 Prichard Colon." On his head, he wore a sign with "STOP THE FIGHT." And over his mouth, he at one point wore tape with "NO MORE COMAS."

Prichard Colon, now 25, was in a coma after brain surgery two years ago and has since been in what doctors described to the family as a vegetative state. In recent months he has progressed to being able to nod in the affirmative or negative when asked certain questions by Richard and his ex-wife, Nieves.

In the bout in 2015, Prichard Colon complained of rabbit punches from Williams, and then in the seventh round, Williams hit Colon with a right to the back of the head and neck, landing Colon on the canvas. Referee Joe Cooper deducted a point from Williams, who taunted Colon with a throat-cutting gesture, as he had earlier in the fight.

Ringside doctor Richard Ashby examined the 6-foot, 156-pound Colon and NBC reporter Kenny Rice said moments later on the telecast: "He told me that Colon said he was dizzy and was hurting in the back of his head, but he felt he could go on. The doctor concurs, he says he's just waiting for him to shake it off and resume action."

Less than five minutes after Colon went down, he was up and fighting again.

The fight lasted nine rounds, and soon after, Colon collapsed in his dressing room and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

As OTL first reported, the family filed a $50 million lawsuit in May against Ashby and the fight's promoters.

"I would like a change in boxing, I want to prevent other boxers from going through what Prichard is and what we are as a family," Richard Colon said. "Boxing is a good game, but boxers need to follow the rules and the referees need to make that happen.

"He (Williams) was looking to throw punches behind his head -- rabbit punches -- and he never tried to stop. He tried to hammer my son."

Repeated attempts since early 2017 by OTL to interview Williams have been unsuccessful.

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