A Few More Rounds

All for a meaningless victory, one little uptick on the record, one quick and easy payday, one breezy workout.

The match wasn't going to earn a title fight, wouldn't bring a substantial move in the rankings or garner any additional fame.

It was an untelevised eight-rounder against an opponent who, on his best night, would be flattered to be called a journeyman.

Mexican flyweight Ruben Contreras collapsed after highly rated Brian Viloria, already with a July world title bout in place, waylaid him on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez farewell charade at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Contreras, bleeding from his nose and mouth, was never knocked down, but he quit 55 seconds into the sixth round and then experienced a seizure.

The 32-year-old foil was rushed to California Medical Center, where surgery was performed to relieve the pressure from the welling blood. He was put into a medically induced coma and was expected to remain in that state through Tuesday.

"We're happy he was able to make it in as quickly as he did," trauma surgeon David Duarte told the Associated Press. "If he had waited more than 30 minutes, he probably would have had irreversible brain injury.

"It's hard for me to say what's going to happen to his brain. So far everything's gone quite well, but that doesn't guarantee he's going to make it."

On paper, it sure looked like the highly ranked Viloria had no business fighting an eight-round bout with Contreras.

The Hawaiian Punch was 16-0 with 10 KOs and has been scheduled to fight 10 rounds or more nine times in his career. The former NABF champ is rated No. 1 by the WBC, No. 3 by the WBA, No. 5 by the WBO and No. 9 by the IBF.

Contreras, according to BoxRec.com, was 9-16-3. In a nearly six-year span entering the weekend he had gone 3-9-1.

But analyzing Contreras' ledger isn't that simple. His resume is littered with several notable names, and he frequently has gone the distance. He hadn't been knocked out since 1999, when he was stopped in three straight fights before leaving the ring for three years. In his return he has defeated Carlos Madrigal, drew with David Martinez and went the distance in losses to Gabriel Elizondo, Hugo Ramirez and Will Grigsby, who four months later became IBF junior flyweight champ.

"I've been doing a lot of rethinking on all of this, and I don't know if anybody could've foreseen these unfortunate circumstances," Viloria's manager, Gary Gittlesohn, told The Sweet Science. "If you really inspect Contreras' record you'll see this is a game fighter, a guy who goes the distance, a guy who has fought a lot of tough fighters. The lopsided record doesn't give you a complete picture.

"Hindsight often gives people 20/20 vision, but there's not a commission in the country that wouldn't say with a straight face they would have opposed this fight."

The California State Athletic Commission, apparently based on Contreras' durability, allowed him to take the fight on three days' notice.

The problem is the dearth of boxers at 112 pounds and lighter. Matchmakers struggle to put these fights together everywhere but in Asia, and with so little options to choose from, practically any available fighter is an acceptable fighter.

"At this weight class, beggars can't be choosers," Gittlesohn said. "It's not like every gym in America is filled with junior flyweights. With options to find an opponent so limited, we were thrilled Contreras was available."

Viloria's original opponent must've been better right? The Honolulu Advertiser quoted Gittlesohn as saying it would be Mike Thomas, a pug with a 4-5-1 mark, whom Viloria already beat in November 2001 in his fourth pro fight. Thomas' four victories and one draw came against opponents with zero aggregate wins, and he hasn't fought since April 2002, when he lost his fourth straight bout.

OK, so maybe not every available flyweight is approvable.

Viloria said he needed the tune-up bout to bang off the rust because he hadn't fought since he agreed to face Angelo Priolo on three days' notice six months ago. Viloria scored a seventh-round knockout.

That doesn't wash. Viloria, prior to facing Priolo (a contender with a 30-1 record at the time) in a scheduled 12 rounder, had been out of the ring six months. That bout, against Juan Alfonso Keb Baas (a two-time world title challenger with a 30-9-2 record at the time) in February 2004 for the NABF title, ended a nearly seven-month layoff for Viloria.

What's the difference? He recently signed with Top Rank and had procured a deal to fight Eric Ortiz for the WBC junior flyweight belt July 30. Viloria, Bob Arum and Gittlesohn wanted to work up a sweat without the risk of blowing the big chance.

"Brian hadn't fought since December and his next fight is in July for a world title," Gittlesohn said. "We couldn't let eight months go by without a fight, especially when the champ fought in March. Brian needed some kind of activity. He needed a strong, durable, game opponent.

"We didn't elect this opponent because we thought he was such a clean walkover for Brian. It wouldn't have served any purpose for Brian to blow out some guy in one round."

The California State Athletic Commission quickly struck a defensive pose after Contreras collapsed.

"This injury manifested itself through this fight, but whether or not the true cause for him having the bleeding or having seizures was because of the fight, is yet to be determined," Dr. Paul Wallace, chairman of the state's medical advisory board, told the Associated Press.

Dean Lohuis, the commission's chief inspector, told the Los Angeles Times, “He's a good fighter, a solid fighter. He made the weight limit fairly easily by three pounds."

Contreras' tragic injuries occurred 24 hours after another fighter was hospitalized because of brain bleeding in Las Vegas.

Former WBO No. 1 featherweight contender William Abelyan was admitted Friday night after his upset loss to late-replacement Phillip Payne at the Gold Coast Casino in Las Vegas. Abelyan took a hellacious beating in the late rounds, getting knocked down twice and teetering on the verge of thrice when referee Jay Nady stopped the bout in the 10th.

Those who witnessed the bout, however, suggested the worst blow, the one that likely caused the brain bleed, was a brutal head butt in the fifth round. Abelyan complained of a frontal (forehead) headache, and his entire face began to swell soon after the butt.

Abelyan was so disoriented that when a stool was placed under him after the stoppage, he sat down but continued to throw punches as if the fight still was taking place.

"They said it was a slight bleed, but even a slight bleed can end up severe," said Abelyan's trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. "This is very serious."

Abelyan fortunately had a brief stay at Valley Hospital and was sent home. But it looks like the 26-year-old's career is over.

"If the doctor says this is the end game, this is the end game. No arguments," Mustafa Muhammad said.

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MORBID CLIMATE FOR MESI: Brain bleeds on back-to-back nights don't shape up as favorable for Joe Mesi's appearance next week before the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The NSAC suspended the former top heavyweight contender after he suffered multiple brain bleeds in his March 2004 bout with Vassiliy Jirov at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Mesi insists he's medically fit to fight and will find out June 9 if the NSAC will rescind the suspension.

As daunting as Mesi's chances have appeared all along, the climate grew even darker over the weekend.

Coincidence or not, the same referee and ringside physician who presided over Abelyan also handled Mesi's last bout.

Dr. Jeffrey Davidson gave Mesi a clean bill of health after Jirov dropped Mesi three times in the final two rounds. Mesi complained of a headache and memory loss at the postfight news conference, but Davidson said those symptoms were never relayed to him.

UNDER THE RADAR: How this tidbit escaped the mainstream media I have no clue, but Edwin Valero returned to the ring May 21 and picked up his 13th first-round knockout in as many fights.

No kidding.

The lightweight phenom, medically suspended because of a previous brain bleed, sneaked down to his native Venezuela to face Hernan Abraham Valenzuela in a bout slated for 10 rounds. It was Valero's first action since December 2003.

Valero was suspended in January 2004 when he failed his prefight medical exam for a 10-round bout with Francisco Lorenzo in New York City.

Doctors found a spot on Valero's brain. The fighter explained it was the result of a 2001 motorcycle accident that required surgery to remove a blood clot. During the procedure surgeons removed a piece of his skull.

Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Valero, claimed no knowledge of his fight.

Even more bizarre is that the card was sponsored by the Buenos Aires-based WBA. First off, there's an inherent conflict of interest in a ratings organization associating itself with an entire card, especially with no titles at stake.

Even worse, how can the WBA do business with a suspended fighter?

Props to Scott Shaffer from BoxingTalk.net, the only notable voice to report Valero's surprise bout. A search of major newspapers from around the world and of the Internet through Google News turned up no other articles.

BURNING QUESTIONS: If Britain's wildly popular Ricky Hatton beats Kostya Tszyu on Saturday night, where would The Hitman rank among the region's all-time greats?

Does anyone genuinely believe Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. won't fight again?

Anyone notice Danny Williams, just one year removed from his big upset over Mike Tyson, is fighting a guy with an 18-14 record on the Tszyu-Hatton card? Zoltan Petranyi started his career at 7-11 (wins and losses, not the convenience store) and has beaten only two opponents who had more than three wins. One of Petranyi's victories came in March over a guy named Roger Foe. No word on whether he's ever fought Jimmy Rival or Joe Enemy.

MORON OF THE WEEK: The ESPN executive who decided to feature "The Fights and Times of Muhammad Ali" throughout Memorial Day weekend. Ali is the most infamous draft dodger in American history.

QUOTEMARKS: "I went from insufficient funds to $1 million." -- Sergio Mora on winning the grand prize on "The Contender."

"I'm a fresh 35. He's 26, but how many wars has he had in the last few years? When you're fighting war after war after war, your body doesn't like it any more. It gets used to getting hit and getting cut, but one day it will say 'I've had enough'. I'm 35, but I'm fresh. Kostya Tszyu, 35, would beat Kostya Tszyu 25. I would destroy myself because I'm smarter, stronger. That's how dangerous I am." -- Kostya Tszyu on his bout with Ricky Hatton

"I'm the nicest guy in the world away from boxing. I love my darts and a pint or two.But after nearly 15 weeks of intense training I am now turning very mean and very nasty." -- Hatton

"We're going to have 108-pounders and 112-pounders fight in the prelims to make the women look bigger." -- Bob Arum, on the undercard of his Million Dollar Lady show, to the Los Angeles Times

"I once did a little sparring with Tommy Hearns. He hit me at two in the afternoon, and I went down to a knee. At four in the morning, I was still throwing up." -- actor Mickey Rourke to BBC Radio

"I don't need anyone to give me anything anymore. If they want big fights they'll have to come to me. If they want to run, the fans will know it. I won't need to call fighters out anymore. The fans will do it for me. All I needed was to prove myself, and I did it." -- Winky Wright