The Boxing World Mourns the Passing of Patrick Day

Published

5 years ago

October 16, 2019

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Patrick Day passed away today, Oct. 16, 2019, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, succumbing to a traumatic brain injury incurred in his bout last Saturday with Charles Conwell. Day was felled by a devastating left hook in the 10^th round and hit his head on the canvas as he fell. He was taken from the ring on a gurney and died without regaining consciousness. A former New York City Golden Gloves champion and 2012 U.S. Olympic team alternate, Day, 27, had been on the deck twice previously during the fight, but had good moments during the middle rounds.

New Jersey boxing writer Ryan Songalia, who has followed Day since his amateur days, called him one of the true gentlemen of the sport. Dozens of others weighed in on social media with the same sentiment when they heard that Day had been hospitalized, including Long Island’s Chris Algieri, the former WBO junior welterweight champion who had likewise known Day since his amateur days. “One of the true nice guys in the sport who stood out as a consummate gentleman warrior,” wrote Algieri. In the words of British promoter Eddie Hearn, Patrick Day had a smile that could light up a room.

One of the most poignant social media posts was written by Charles Conwell. “If I could take it all back, I would,” said Conwell. “I can’t stop thinking about it myself. I prayed for you so many times and shed so many tears because I couldn’t even imagine how my family and friends would feel. I see you everywhere you go and all I hear is wonderful things about you.”

Conwell indicated that he was thinking of quitting boxing. Joe Higgins, Patrick Day’s coach and mentor, responded: “As devastated as we are, we realize you are equally devastated…Thank you for your kind words…(Patrick) would have wanted you to continue.”

Patrick Day was born and raised in Freeport, New York, a community on the South Shore of Long Island. He recalled that he was 14 years old when he first hit a heavy bag. The bag was in Joe Higgins’ garage. Day came in the open door uninvited and a great friendship was born.

Aside from Day’s immediate family, no one is more devastated than Higgins who ran the boxing program for Freeport’s Police Athletic League. Higgins remembers being there when Day’s Haitian-American parents brought him home from the hospital. The Higgins and the Days live across the street from each other in one of the nicer sections of the community. (Day’s father is a physician; his mother has worked as a translator at the United Nations. Patrick Day attended Nassau County Community College and earned a Bachelor’s Degree online in Health, Wellness, and Nutrition from Kaplan University.)

A second-generation New York City firefighter who lost a brother in 9/11, Joe Higgins spent months digging through the rubble of the World Trade Center and developed severe respiratory problems, forcing an early retirement. The boxing gym was his refuge and he believed firmly that the kids he was teaching would grow up to be better citizens because of the life lessons they learned there. (ESPN reporter Mark Kriegel, speaking to Higgins as Patrick Day lay in a coma, was told by a distraught Higgins that he had commanded his assistants to padlock the gym and have the locks changed and that he could never bring himself to go back there again.)

Ring deaths have become all too common lately. In July, fights on back-to-back nights produced ring fatalities.

Maxim Dadashev died from injuries suffered in his bout with Subriel Matias on July 19 at the MGM National Harbor Casino and Resort in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Dadashev’s corner pulled him out after the 11^th round, but it was too late even though Dadashev protested the stoppage. The fighter collapsed as he was leaving the ring and died on July 23 without regaining consciousness.

Argentine boxer Hugo Santillan and Uruguay’s Eduardo Abreu fought to a 10-round draw in Buenos Aires on July 20. Santillan passed out as the scorecards were being tallied and fell into a coma with a brain injury. He died five days later.

On September 21, Boris Stanchov, a 21-year-old boxer fighting under an assumed name, suffered a sudden and fatal heart attack following the fifth round of a 6-round contest in Qazim Dervishi, Albania. This was Stanchov’s sixth documented pro fight. He had lost the previous five.

There’s a certain irony in the fact that Patrick Day was from Freeport. On Feb. 20 of last year, the town of Freeport, Illinois, held a day to honor native son Gerald McClellan who suffered permanent brain damage in a fight with Nigel Benn in London in February of 1995.

Freeport, New York, and Freeport, Illinois are approximately 800 miles apart, but now they are linked with something other than the name that they share.

“You’ll never hear my guys spit out curse words or embarrass their mothers, but don’t mistake their kindness for weakness because they’ll knock the snot out of you,” Joe Higgins told Yahoo combat sports writer Kevin Iole for a story that ran four years ago this month.

By all accounts, Patrick Day didn’t need boxing to turn him into a gentleman. It was always in his DNA, instilled there by his parents. May he rest in peace.

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Arne K. Lang

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Najee Lopez Steps up in Class and Wins Impressively at Plant City

Published

6 hours ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Garry Jonas’ ProBox series returned to its regular home in Plant City, Florida, tonight with a card topped by a 10-round light heavyweight match between fast-rising Najee Lopez and former world title challenger Lenin Castillo. This was considered a step-up fight for the 25-year-old Lopez, an Atlanta-born-fighter of Puerto Rican heritage. Although the 36-year-old Castillo had lost two of his least three heading in, he had gone the distance with Dimitry Bivol and Marcus Browne and been stopped only once (by Callum Smith).

Lopez landed the cleaner punches throughout. Although Castillo seemed unfazed during the first half of the fight, he returned to his corner at the end of round five exhibiting signs of a fractured jaw.

In the next round, Lopez cornered him against the ropes and knocked him through the ropes with a left-right combination. Referee Emil Lombardo could have stopped the fight right there, but he allowed the courageous Castillo to carry on for a bit longer, finally stopping the fight as Castillo’s corner and a Florida commissioner were signaling that it was over.

The official time was 2:36 of round six. Bigger fights await the talented Lopez who improved to 13-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Castillo declined to 25-7-1.

Co-Feature

In a stinker of a heavyweight fight, Stanley Wright, a paunchy, 34-year-old North Carolina journeyman, scored a big upset with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jeremiah Milton.

Wright carried 280 pounds, 100 pounds more than in his pro debut 11 years ago. Although he was undefeated (13-0, 11 KOs), he had never defeated an opponent with a winning record and his last four opponents were a miserable 19-48-2. Moreover, he took the fight on short notice.

What Wright had going for him was fast hands and, in the opening round, he put Milton on the canvas with a straight right hand. From that point, Milton fought tentatively and Wright, looking fatigued as early as the fourth round, fought only in spurts. It seemed doubtful that he could last the distance, but Milton, the subject of a 2021 profile in these pages, was wary of Wright’s power and unable to capitalize. “It’s almost as if Milton is afraid to win,” said ringside commentator Chris Algieri during the ninth stanza when the bout had devolved into a hugfest.

The judges had it 96-93 and 97-92 twice for the victorious Wright who boosted his record to 14-0 without improving his stature.

Also

In the TV opener, a 10-round contest in the junior middleweight division, Najee Lopez stablemate Darrelle Valsaint (12-0, 10 KOs) scored his career-best win with a second-round knockout of 35-year-old Dutch globetrotter Stephen Danyo (23-7-3).

A native Floridian of Haitian descent, the 22-year-old Valsaint was making his eighth start in Plant City. He rocked Danyo with a chopping right hand high on the temple and then, as Danyo slumped forward, delivered the coup-de-gras, a short left uppercut. The official time was 2:17 of round two.

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Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue is Headed to Vegas after KOing Ye Joon Kim

Published

16 hours ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11^th straight stoppage tonight while successfully defending his unified super bantamweight title, advancing his record to 29-0 (26 KOs) at the expense of Ye Joon Kim. The match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came to an end at the 2:25 mark of round four when U.S. referee Mark Nelson tolled “10” over the brave but overmatched Korean.

Kim, raised in a Seoul orphanage, had a few good moments, but the “Monster” found his rhythm in the third round, leaving Kim with a purplish welt under his left eye. In the next frame, he brought the match to a conclusion, staggering the Korean with a left and then finishing matters with an overhand right that put Kim on the seat of his pants, dazed and wincing in pain.

Kim, who brought a 21-2-2 record, took the fight on 10 days’ notice, replacing Australia’s Sam Goodman who suffered an eye injury in sparring that never healed properly, forcing him to withdraw twice.

Co-promoter Bob Arum, who was in the building, announced that Inoue’s next fight would happen in Las Vegas in the Spring. Speculation centers on Mexico City’s Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) who is ranked #1 by the WBC. However, there’s also speculation that the 31-year-old Inoue may move up to featherweight and seek to win a title in a fifth weight class, in which case a potential opponent is the winner of the Feb. 2 match between Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa/Fulton have different promoters, but the arrival of Turki Alalshikh, the sport’s Daddy Warbucks, has changed the dynamic. Tonight, Naoya Inoue made his first start as a brand ambassador for Riyadh Season.

Simmering on the backburner is a megafight with countryman Junto Nakatani, an easy fight to make as Arum has ties to both. However, the powers-that-be would prefer more “marination.”

Inoue has appeared twice in Las Vegas, scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Jason Moloney in October of 2020 at the MGM Bubble and a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels in June of 2021.

Semi-wind-up

In a 12-round bout for a regional welterweight title, Jin Sasaki improved to 19-1-1 (17) with a unanimous decision over Shoki Sakai (29-15-3). The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.

Also

In a bout in which both contestants were on the canvas, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3) edged out Misaki Hirano (11-2), winning a majority decision. A 28-year-old Osaka southpaw with a fan-friendly style, the lanky Shimomachi, unbeaten in his last 22 starts, competes as a super bantamweight. A match with Inoue may be in his future.

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Eric Priest Wins Handily on Thursday’s Golden Boy card at the Commerce Casino

Published

22 hours ago

January 24, 2025

David A. Avila

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Model turned fighter Eric Priest jabbed and jolted his way into the super middleweight rankings with a shutout decision win over veteran Tyler Howard on Thursday.

In his first main event Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) proved ready for contender status by defusing every attack Tennessee’s Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) could muster at Commerce Casino, the second fight in six days at the LA County venue.

All ticket monies collected on the Folden Boy Promotions card were contributed to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as they battle wildfires sprouting all over Los Angeles County due to high winds.

Priest, 26, had never fought anyone near Howard’s caliber but used a ramrod jab to keep the veteran off-balance and unable to muster a forceful counter-attack. Round after round the Korean-American fighter pumped left jabs while circling his opposition.

Though hit with power shots, none seemed to faze Howard but his own blows were unable to put a dent in Priest. After 10 rounds of the same repetitive action all three judges scored the fight 100-90 for Priest who now wins a regional super middleweight title.

Priest also joins the top 15 rankings of the WBA organization.

In a fight between evenly matched middleweights, Jordan Panthen (11-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated after 10 rounds versus DeAundre Pettus (12-4, 7 KOs). Though equally skilled, Panthen simply out-worked the South Caroliina fighter to win by unanimous decision. No knockdowns were scored.

Other Bouts

Grant Flores (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Costa Rica’s David Lobo Ramirez (17-4, 12 KOs) with two successive right uppercuts at 2:59 of the second round of the super welterweight fight.

Cayden Griffith (3-0, 3 KOs) used a left hook to the body to stop Mark Misiura at 1:43 of the second round in a super welterweight bout.

Jordan Fuentes (3-0) floored Brandon Badillo (0-3-1) in the third round and proceeded to win by decision after four rounds in a super bantamweight fight.

A super featherweight match saw Leonardo Sanchez (8-0) win by decision over Joseph Cruz Brown (10-12) after six rounds.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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