Promoter Joe DeGuardia Lucky To Be Alive After Car Crash

Promoter Joe DeGuardia was putting in his due dilligence, tallying up the receipts, paying the boxers, making sure the venue was squared away after his show at the Paramount in Huntington, Long Island Saturday night.

Finally, after 3:30 AM, he hopped in his brand new Mercedes, and, pleased that the 20th anniversary show of his Star Boxing went well, headlined by a Chris Algieri win, he traveled back to his Bronx home. DeGuardia, a former amateur standout who knows full well that a fight can turn in the blink of an eye, was traveling on the Long Island Expressway, when he was struck, head-on, by a Honda driven the wrong way, allegedly with its lights off. A 23 year old man was in control, and he perished upon impact, while his female passenger was critically injured. DeGuardia, though, walked from his car, which was wrecked.

'I'm incredibly lucky to be alive,” said DeGuardia, age 49. “I'm in quite a bit of pain, but I'll be fine. I wish to express my deepest and most sincere appreciation for the outpouring of true concern. I am humbled and honored by the emails, calls, texts, Twitter, Facebook and all other means of support I have received from all over the country and world from people in all aspects of my life, particularly including those in boxing, fans as well. My thoughts and prayers are also extended to the families of the young man who lost his life and particularly his passenger. My prayers are with the young woman as she struggles for life.”

The late man and the name of his passenger have not been made public.

On Friday, DeGuardia had this to say about the anniversary of his company, and his future.

“We've got a great team of fighters under the Star Boxing banner, from Algieri and Cletus Seldin along with Manny Gonzalez who's fighting for the New York State Title on Saturday night to Delvin Rodriguez who was in the 2011 Fight of the Year which we promoted at the Roseland Ballroom. We also have Jason Escalera facing Edwin Rodriguez on HBO at Foxwoods Casino on September 29th. Additionally we promote world ranked junior middleweight Demetrius Andrade, and heavyweight prospect Joe Hanks along with many other future champions and contenders, so the future looks very bright and we're looking forward to many more years of promoting world class events.”

Gives you a bit of perspective, doesn't it?

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