Rest in Peace, Frankie Leal

Francisco “Frankie” Leal, a junior featherweight fighter from Mexico, died on Tuesday, from injuries suffered in a bout which took place on Saturday evening.

Leal, age 26, battled Raul Hirales in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and was knocked out in round eight of the contest, which ran on Azteca America. The lefty Leal was knocked down in round six, and again in round eight.

Clubbing rights, after a concentrated assault to the body, proved damaging. He hit the mat, then arose at the count of seven, facing the turnbuckle, and the ref kept counting. Leal turned toward the official, who was waving his arms to halt the faceoff. The Mexicali resident then slumped to the floor, on his rear. He was sitting, looking woozy, as a stretcher was summoned. That took a few minutes, and his 20-2-1 foe looked on, gravely, realizing that Leal wasn’t responding well to the KO.

Leal was taken to a hospital in Cabo San Lucas, where he was reportedly in a coma, and then moved to one in San Diego, where he passed away.

His record stands still at 20-8-3. Of his eight losses, five came via stoppage. He’d been taken to the hospital on a stretcher following his TKO10 loss to Evgeny Gradovich on March 31, 2012 in San Antonio. He went 3-2 thereafter. Leal had enjoyed a career surge when he beat 19-0 Robert Marroquin on April 23, 2011 in Oklahoma.

The boxer leaves behind a wife, and son. Here is information on a site set up to contribute to them.

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