| |
 Missouri boxer critical after surgery
Posted: Monday September 13, 1999 01:21 PM NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Boxer Randie Carver underwent brain surgery Sunday night after being injured during a match at Harrah's North Kansas City Casino. He remained in critical condition this morning, a hospital spokeswoman said. The surgery was completed by late Sunday evening, said Kim Shopper, a spokeswoman for North Kansas City Hospital. "The family asked that everyone pray for him," she said. Carver, 25, of Kansas City, Mo., was knocked out in the 10th round of a scheduled 12-round bout with Kabary Salem of Brooklyn. It was the third fight on a seven-bout card, and the other matches were canceled. Randy Singer, director of Missouri's Division of Professional Registration, which oversees the boxing-regulating Missouri Athletic Commission, said the commission's staffers were to review a videotape of the fight on Monday. But he said the commission's authority was limited to considering whether fight officials, which it licenses, acted properly. Carver, who billed himself as "the Natural," is a former Golden Gloves champion who won the North American Boxing Federation super middleweight championship at the casino last year. He brought a 23-0-1 record in Sunday night's championship fight, which was televised on the Fox Sports Net. Carver, who was repeatedly head-butted in the early rounds, fell sluggishly to the canvas in the 10th round after taking an overhand right and a straight left from Salem. He tried on four occasions to rise, but couldn't get to his knees, let alone his feet. "He starts wobbling, he falls, he tries to get back up and he can't," said Pete Young, who watched the bout at ringside. "He rolls ... and he's not strong enough to even get back to his feet. He falls back down to the canvas, and then the eight-count was over and he stayed down." After referee Ross Strada ruled a knockout, physician Michael Poppa rushed into the ring. Carver's eyes appeared to go back in his head, and he lost consciousness. Salem's manager, Scott Massoud, described Carver as incoherent. "You could see it in his eyes," he said. "It was just a stare. A stare into nowhere." Paramedics gave Carver oxygen, put a breathing tube in his mouth and inserted an IV. They worked on him for close to 20 minutes before rushing him to the hospital. Carver never appeared to regain consciousness. Many members of Carver's family rushed to ringside in tears, and officials had to restrain some who tried to get in the ring. Friends gathered at the hospital later, waiting for word. "All I can do is pray," said Steven St. John, Carver's publicist. "I'm doing everything I can not to lose control and cry." "If anything happens to him, I'm out of this business," said fight promoter Tony Holden, a close friend of Carver. Trainer George Smith, who considered Carver a son to him, was upset at the number of times Salem head-butted Carver. In the second round, Carver had a nasty cut in the corner of his right eye and one under his left eye. Strada warned Salem twice but ruled the head butts accidental. "He got head-butted more than he should have," Smith said. "But he seemed fine and responsive. He reacted to my statements." In the eighth round, Carver looked noticeably tired, and had a hard time getting off the ropes when Salem pushed him. "He looked tired, he was dry, and he wasn't sweating a lot," said Poppa, the physician. "It was a wrestling match, but when I checked his eyes, he looked good, and the cuts were superficial." "He seemed weak to me," said St. John. "He didn't seem himself. He took two or three head butts. I can't understand why the fight kept going." Massoud said Salem was "really depressed." "He's in really bad shape," Massoud said. "We're all concerned, really concerned. It was an accident." Salem, 31, said he had no regrets about the way he fought Carver, figuring a knockout was his only chance. "It's his hometown, you know?" Salem said. "If it goes 12 rounds, he wins." Salem, who has a 12-1 record, expressed concern for Carver's well-being. "I hope he's fine," he said. "I feel bad. What can I say? It's a fight."
On Jan. 29, boxer Fernando Ibarra suffered a brain injury after
he was knocked out by Ratanachai Vorapin, a top-ranked contender
for the International Boxing Federation title, in the sixth round
of a fight at the Regal Riverfront Hotel in St. Louis. Ibarra
underwent surgery and is recovering.
| |||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||
