Welterweight Oscar Diaz, who collapsed in his corner after the 10th round of a TKO loss to Delvin Rodriguez on Wednesday night and was rushed to University Medical Center in San Antonio in critical condition, was being taken into surgery to relieve swelling on his brain early Thursday.
"He's got swelling and bleeding on the brain, he's unconscious and on a ventilator," Ron Katz of Rodriguez promoter Star Boxing told ESPN.com.
Katz said Donna Duva Brooks of Hall of Fame Promotions, Diaz's promoter, was at the hospital with Diaz. Katz said she told him that Diaz was being taken into surgery.
"It's not good. Obviously, he's in all of our prayers," Katz said.
Fighting in front of his hometown fans at San Antonio's Municipal Auditorium, Diaz appeared to be trailing badly in the fight. His right eye was swollen almost completely shut in the main event of the ESPN2-televised "Wednesday Night Fights."
Just before the 11th round began, Diaz, who was standing in his corner receiving instructions from trainer Tommy Brooks, buckled and passed out. Medical personnel came to his side immediately and within a few minutes he was on a stretcher and being taken to a waiting ambulance.
"When he left the ring, he was completely stationary and he didn't look good," said Star Boxing chief Joe DeGuardia. "They couldn't get him to respond. They cleared a path right away and took him to the hospital."
It had been a grueling, physical fight between Diaz (26-3, 12 KOs), 25, and Rodriguez (23-2-1, 14 KOs), 28, of Danbury, Conn. That kind of fight was nothing new for Diaz, a brawler who has been in several hard fights, none more difficult than an 11th-round TKO loss to Golden Johnson on Nov. 10, 2006.
Diaz took enormous punishment in the fight before it was stopped. He returned eight months later to face Juan Manuel Buendia, but the fight ended in a first-round no contest because of an accidental head butt.
Diaz then won a unanimous eight-round decision against Roberto Valenzuela in May to set up the fight with Rodriguez for the vacant regional USBA 147-pound title.
Courtesy Dan Rafael espn.com
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.
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