Boxer Remains in Critical Condition

By Steve Springer

May 30, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Flyweight Ruben Contreras continued to fight for his life Sunday in a Los Angeles hospital a day after suffering a serious head injury in a match against Brian Viloria at Staples Center. Contreras, who underwent 2 1/2 hours of surgery at California Hospital Medical Center late Saturday night to relieve pressure caused by bleeding around the brain, remains in critical condition.

“He still has some ways to go. He is still in danger for his life right now,” said trauma surgeon Dr. David Duarte. “With swelling in the brain, you can look good one hour and it can turn sour the next.”

Duarte said a better prognosis would be possible in the next 48 to 72 hours when the swelling subsides. The 32-year-old fighter from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, is in a medically induced coma.

Duarte said the prompt medical response at Staples Center and a quick trip to the hospital a few blocks away was crucial for Contreras.

“That saved his life,” Duarte said. “If he had gone more than another 30 minutes, he would have had irreversible brain damage.”

Contreras, bleeding from a cut in his mouth and from his nose, ended the fight by turning his back on Viloria and refusing to continue 55 seconds into the sixth round of a scheduled eight-round match. Unknown at the time was that Contreras had complained of double vision after the fifth round.

When the match ended, Contreras, taking a seat in his corner, complained of a headache. Upon leaving the ring, he collapsed and had a seizure.

As Contreras clung to life Sunday, Viloria, feeling helpless, could only cling to the hope that his opponent, whom he had never met before Saturday night, would survive.

The 24-year-old Viloria, an unbeaten fighter (17-0, 11 knockouts) from Hawaii, entered the ring Saturday touted as a rising star with all the tools necessary for success. All but one, he has been told more than once. He lacks the killer instinct.

That’s not something he has wanted to hear in the last 24 hours. The mere word killer has been enough to make Viloria shudder. Shudder as he made frantic calls to the hospital late Saturday night to ascertain Contreras’ condition. Shudder as Viloria tossed and turned through a restless night, trying to figure out which punch might have caused a blood vessel in Contreras’ head to burst. Shudder as Viloria and his father, Ben, went to church Sunday morning to pray for the injured fighter.

Viloria had wanted to go to the hospital, but was told there was nothing he could do there, no way he could get in to see Contreras.

“My whole family is praying for Ruben Contreras,” Viloria said. “He is a very brave fighter. But right now, it’s not about fighting. It’s about praying that he has a speedy recovery and that everything comes out OK. My heart goes out to him and his family.”

What is mystifying to Viloria is the cause of the injury. There were no knockdowns in the fight, no head butts that might have caused the cranial bleeding.

“I am puzzled,” Viloria said. “There were no punches out of the ordinary.”

When Contreras stopped fighting and turned around, Viloria backed off.

“When a fighter turns his back like that,” said Gary Gittelsohn, Viloria’s manager, “most fighters would have gone after him. Brian didn’t do that even though the rules permit it.

“Often when there is an opportunity to end a fight, Brian does the opposite. There is a sweetness about him. He views boxing as just a sport. We had been trying to harden him up, but we’ve been unsuccessful.”

In the moments after the fight, before the seriousness of Contreras’ condition was known, Gittelsohn told his fighter, “Until the ref steps in, you have to nail the guy.”

On Sunday, Gittelsohn shuddered himself a bit as his words came back to him.

“I don’t disavow what I said. But, of course, I had no idea what was happening to Contreras,” Gittelsohn said.

He came to the hospital Sunday afternoon. When informed that some of Contreras’ relatives in Mexico, anxious to see the fighter, were experiencing visa problems, Gittelsohn offered the services of an attorney who specializes in such matters.

But though Gittelsohn was quick to offer any help he could for Contreras, he also was quick to defend the choice of Contreras as an opponent although he was signed only a week ago, and although Contreras entered the ring with a 9-16-3 record, a far cry from Viloria’s spotless mark.

“Going by Contreras’ record is a very shallow way to look at it,” Gittelsohn said. “If he had been managed properly, he could have been 25-0. This fight would have been approved in any state and anyone who tells you differently is using hindsight improperly.”

Indeed, Contreras’ list of recent matches gave no clue that a fight against Viloria could be a dangerous mismatch. In the last year, Contreras lost but went the distance against Will Grigsby (16-2-1 going into the fight), who would go on to win the International Boxing Federation light-flyweight title; fought to a draw with David Martinez (12-0); lost but went the distance with Hugo Ramirez (19-2), and scored a third-round TKO over Tony Valdez (5-1).

Viloria, who is scheduled to meet World Boxing Council light-flyweight champion Eric Ortiz on July 30, had been inactive for five months. So Gittelsohn and Viloria’s father were looking for an opponent who would give the fighter some competitive rounds to polish his skills.

The first choice was Alejandro Moreno, who comes from the same town as Contreras. But when Moreno had trouble making weight, Gittelsohn and Ben Viloria were happy to switch opponents. The younger Viloria had beaten Moreno two years earlier and didn’t figure to be challenged in a rematch as much as his handlers would have liked.

Top Rank matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman turned to Contreras, who was in training for an upcoming fight in Oxnard and didn’t figure to have a weight problem.

On Sunday, Viloria was no longer concerned with Contreras’ skill as a fighter.

“That’s what we do in the ring,” Viloria said. “But this goes beyond fighting. This is real life.”