First Amatur fight, man has brain damage, overdoses, very sad

[CD Lee]

Here is reality on taking shots to the head. It makes you think about being ready before you spar even with gear, because properly delivered punches or kicks, still can send energy/shock through the gear and into the brain.





February 9, 2002

HOUSTON (AP) -- Thomas Trevino, an amateur boxer who sued his
manager after suffering brain damage in his first fight, died of an apparent
overdose of prescription drugs. He was 27.

Trevino died at East Houston Regional Medical Center on Thursday, said his
attorney, Peter Segelke. Trevino had been in a coma since Sunday from an
apparent overdose of prescription medication, Segelke said.

``It's a very sad case. He had been beset by seizures and had been
despondent,'' Segelke said.

Trevino was suing his manager, Gilbert Bustamante, the operator of Fisticuffs
Boxing gym in Houston.

Trevino, who worked as an assistant manager of a Chili's restaurant, claimed
Bustamante pushed him into his first fight on April 27. Segelke said Trevino
had done nothing more than skip rope, work with light and heavy bags and
spar two rounds before the fight.

Despite wearing head protection, Trevino took several hard blows to the head
in the match. He was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital after the fight, and
doctors performed surgery to reduce brain swelling.

Segelke said a large piece of Trevino's brain was removed during the
operation, and he was left with an inch-deep indentation on the right side of his
head.

Trevino later experienced short-term memory loss, uncontrolled temper and
difficulty keeping to a schedule, Segelke said. He filed suit in August.

Trevino wrote to his wife about being depressed, but the overdose might have
been accidental.

Segelke said Trevino told Bustamante the night of the fight that he was not
ready. Segelke said he will pursue the lawsuit on behalf of Trevino's wife and
their three children.

Bustamante has said he was devastated by Trevino's injury, and that he told
Trevino he could pull out of the fight if he had any reservations. Bustamante
said several witnesses overheard the conversation.

[Wongsifu]

man that is really sad :( :( i would have rather lost to that amateur than have had the stupid pleasure of winning

[Nexus]

Being pressured into fighting by your own manager... Word's cannot describe the lack of compassion shown to this man.

- Nexus

[Merryprankster]

Or maybe he wasn't.

We don't have all the facts in.

And at the end of the day, it's the fighters decision to step in the ring.

[Nexus]

Life is designed by your choices in most circumstances, but not all. If you are convinced that you will be ok, and the person who does the convincing knows that is not the case then perhaps you are ignorant and naive, but you remain innocent, and nothing can buy you back your innocence.

- Nexus

[Merryprankster]

i don't buy that a 27 year old man is that naive about an activity with potential for damage.

However, it is quite sad.

[Budokan]

Shows how important in life it is to sometimes say "No" rather than let another person talk you into doing something you'd rather not do.

Regardless, the manager deserves to be strung up.

[Merryprankster]

I think he should lose whatever it is, probably your registration with the AAU that allows you to train and corner fighters in an amateur event for not throwing in the towel. But, it's possible that the guy was doing ok, then just got brutally hammered in the final 5 seconds or something.

Whether he should pay damages is something for the courts to decide.

hmmm... just not enough info.

But Budokan, I agree that "no" needs to be a part of the vocab!!!

[qeySuS]

I kinda tend to agree with MerryPrankster, mainly because this is an amateur fight, and he had a clean record, he had ntohing to prove, he had no title to defend, he had no money to gain.

Cant really see why he'd go into the ring if the didnt really want to, i have no doubt the coach told him it would be a good learning experience to fight someone and encouraged him to fight. But still i dont think i'll pass any conclusive judgements either way.

On a sidenote, today amateur boxing was legalized in Iceland making it legal to train in boxing for the first time in 50 years, and the notion to ban all head contact in ALL martial arts was also declined by congress.

[Merryprankster]

So go box!!! :)

[qeySuS]

I might but i doubt there are any quality instructors here, i'm sure there are lots of people with soe experience that open a big gym and teach people to box and sparr a lot.

But then one can only think "Will i only gain bad habits from that?". I know i'm learning quality kicks so taht's good enough for me until i know i can get quality boxing instructions as well :D

[Shaolindynasty]

That's a very good reason why people should not rush into full contact sparring and fighting should only be done if you are totaly serious about it. One punch can change the course of your entire life. Somehow people began to think that by becoming a sport, fighting became safe. Reality is, it's still really dangerous.

[Leonidas]

Do you think any amount of extra training coulda helped him prevent getting brain damage. Maybe he shouldn't of been boxing in the first place. He could of accidentally hit his head on the hood of his car, and he would of gotten brain damage. Some peoples bodies are just weaker than others. Its also possible he had an older injury that he didn't seek medical attention for. It was most likely a freak accident like that kid that died from one punch to the chest (or was it head). People are really quick to sue someone else where theres really no one to blame. He cant be ****ed at his own body because that's just stupid, so the only alternative is your coach who cant be blamed because you can't prepare for taking headshots, except by taking them. Thats a major part of boxing and fighting in general. No matter how much you train your gonna take a few hits, and you have to start from somewhere. How long were they gonna wait for him to start sparring. There are no forms in boxing and no real special training so all thats left is to spar . There are no safety guarantees especially not in fighting.

[CD Lee]

There are forms in boxing in an indirect way. Any good school should build a solid foundation just like Martial Arts. There is a ton of training a boxer should do, before they ever step into a ring, including defensive drills until they are second nature.

They should have incredible physical conditioning to box including the body and the neck muscles. I am an incredible die hard boxing fan, and I have a very strong opinion on fighters.

Learning to throw a punch can be learned by almost anybody. Learning good defence is the key to good boxing and not getting seriously hurt. Go to an amatur event or watch pro women that only have a few fights, or even some pro men debuts.

What do they do? They punch and lift their chins at the same time or close their eyes as they punch. They lean their heads back when stepping straight back. All of these common begginner errors can get you seriously injured by a good fighter.

Taking the blows is not the only reason people get hurt in boxing. Begginers get hurt because they do it wrong. With the head back or up while throwing a punch, there is no place for their head or neck to go if the get hit to the head area.

1. They are begginner, and their necks are weaker.
2. Chin up means they are MUCH EASIER TO HIT.
3. Eyes closed means they don't see a punch coming, and those do the most damage.
4. If one fights too soon, they do not know their body well enough to know it's limitations. They don't know the difference between pain and truly hurt. This takes time.

I think the manager could certainly have used better judgement when a NEW FIGHTER SAID HE WAS NOT READY. WTF!!!!!
THE GUY WAS NOT READY, HE HAD TO HAVE PART OF HIS BRAIN REMOVED.

This frankly disgusts me to the core. I think full contact fighting is dangerous. That is the reason my Shifu says even with full pads on and headgear, if you do Xingyi or any striking correctly the blows can damage you through the gear pretty badly. It is the SHOCK or energy of the blow traveling through and into the person that damages, not the surface contact. I think we all know that, but I hate to read stories like this.

[Merryprankster]

ummm..

IF it's true, then we should be horrified at the manager, etc.

But what if it's not? I mean, C'MON. There are all SORTS of things to consider:

Perhaps the severe beating only occurred in the last 2 or 3 seconds of the fight and the ref couldn't react in time. I mean knockout IS a way to win. Perhaps it didn't look like he was being hurt when all of a sudden, BAM, the world went screwy. It's a rough sport. Accidents happen. People die EVERY year doing this.

Perhaps the Lawyer is lying and no pressure to fight was applied.

Perhaps the guy had an unknown preexisting condition--that happens too.

There's a lot of stuff here we just don't know, and at the end of the day, it was the FIGHTER'S decision to step into the ring.

Now, I'm not saying that perhaps the trainer and the referee aren't at least partially responsible. They might be FULLY responsible.... they might not be responsible at ALL.

But to jump to the conclusion that the trainer is a bum is just wrong. All the facts need to be in before you can sort such a thing out.

[CD Lee]

Merry,

In all honesty, you are absolutely correct. I am just horrified at how dangerous punches to the head can be. It is scary. You are right. Fighters die every single year.

What is particularly disturbing in this case is that it was amateur and his first fight. Most deaths occur in professionals, not all, but most. Most professionals do bad things to make weight, like dehydrate, which causes even more damage to the brain if you cannot re-hydrate fast enough before taking head shots.

[Merryprankster]

Don't kid yourself bud, amateurs do that too.

but at least they wear headgear.

You know, the safety record of Amateur Boxing's not too shabby. I really think this is more of a "freak" accident than anything.

Most guys who are unprepared simply take a beating and go home... wake up sore in the morning.

I really don't think it's prohibitively dangerous.

[Shaolindynasty]

"I really don't think it's prohibitively dangerous"

I don't think so either but it does show at least the athletes and trainers the importance of being prepared. Allot of fighters say two things about fighting. 1 is that you should train for every fight like it's the championship. 2 is that it isn't what happens in the fight that determines the out come, it's what happened weeks before.

People need to take fighting more serious and train harder for it. Latly people want to just go at it and forget how dangerous it really is. Be preparred

[Merryprankster]

You'll get no argument from me on that

[Ray Pina]

Sad, but not shocking. And who is too blame?

Hey, as a surfer, I know all to well that soemtimes people die doing what they enjoy. I myself have been in a few situations that had be kissing the beach when I got back -- but yet I return to surf ... because I love it.

Its sad when someone dies young, but he was doing what he wanted to do, otherwise he would not have stepped into the ring, no manager can do that. You have to have the desire before even showing up for training. Training, your manager, only helps you attain your goal.

So, why sad, I blame no one, not the kid, not the trainer, not the guy who hit him. It was an accident, it happens sometimes.

I for one will paddle out to surf again knowing some good guys have died, even in some small surf it happens, and I will get into the ring, because it is what I enioy.

May his soul, and the ones he left behind, find peace with this.