{"id":855017,"date":"2026-08-14T13:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/855017\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T13:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:46:16","slug":"boxer-prichard-colon-dies-at-33-11-years-after-receiving-illegal-blow-to-the-head-during-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/855017\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxer Prichard Col\u00f3n dies at 33, 11 years after receiving illegal blow to the head during fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Former boxer<\/a> Prichard Col\u00f3n has died at age 33, 11 years after sustaining life-altering blows<\/a> to the head during the only defeat of his professional<\/a> career.\n <\/p>\n

\n Col\u00f3n\u2019s father shared the news via Facebook<\/a> on Thursday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI regret to inform you of the passing of my son Prichard from this earthly world,\u201d Richard Col\u00f3n wrote, adding: \u201cNow he is in a better world.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Prichard<\/p>\n

\n Thank you for so many years of love and prayers. As much as you can, please keep us in your prayers,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n

\n Col\u00f3n was born in Florida but his family moved to Puerto Rico when he was a child. He emerged as a promising young talent, smashing a run of national amateur championships to win five titles, and earning a Youth Pan American gold medal, all before turning 20.\n <\/p>\n

\n His professional career, beginning in 2013, was similarly successful. The super welterweight competed in a total of 17 matches; he won 16 of those, and 13 were by a knock-out.\n <\/p>\n

\n Notably, Col\u00f3n was victorious when he fought former WBA champion Vivian Harris in September 2015, knocking him out in the fourth round.\n <\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

\n But a month later, Col\u00f3n competed against Terrel Williams at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, on a night that proved fateful to the rising star.\n <\/p>\n

\n Col\u00f3n, who was 23 at the time, sustained injuries including an illegal blow to the head during his 10-round fight with Williams, Reuters reported the fight\u2019s promoter, Lou DiBella, as saying in a statement after the event.\n <\/p>\n

\n The young fighter exhibited symptoms of head trauma in his dressing room following the bout and was rushed to hospital, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, DiBella said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Footage of the fight shared online showed Williams punching Col\u00f3n in the back of the head in the seventh round, apparently stunning him. Col\u00f3n was briefly examined in his corner, while Williams was penalized for the illegal punch.\n <\/p>\n

\n Col\u00f3n was then knocked down twice in the ninth round. He was disqualified after the ninth round, when his corner mistakenly took off his gloves, thinking it was the final round and that the fight was complete, according to a Reuters report after the match.\n <\/p>\n

\n While Col\u00f3n survived, his injuries forced him to retire. In images shared by his father online since the fight, he was often pictured in a wheelchair.\n <\/p>\n

\n The World Boxing Council (WBC) paid tribute to Col\u00f3n, describing him as an \u201ceternal champion\u201d in a statement<\/a> released on Thursday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWith a heavy heart and immense sadness enveloping the entire international boxing community, the World Boxing Council and its President, Mauricio Sulaim\u00e1n, mourn the passing of former boxer and icon of bravery, Prichard Col\u00f3n Mel\u00e9ndez,\u201d the organization said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cPrichard didn\u2019t just fight with skill; he fought with the elegance and pride of carrying Puerto Rico\u2019s flag to the greatest heights,\u201d it added.\n <\/p>\n

\n The WBC previously named Col\u00f3n an \u201cHonorary World Champion,\u201d and presented him with the iconic Green and Gold belt that it said he \u201calways deserved.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The organization also said Col\u00f3n\u2019s tragedy inspired it to \u201ccategorically reinforce safety regulations, driving zero tolerance for blows to the back of the head (rabbit punches),\u201d and to implement stricter medical protocols.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cRest in peace, dear Prichard. Your legacy and your smile will live forever, in our hearts,\u201d the WBC said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former boxer Prichard Col\u00f3n has died at age 33, 11 years after sustaining life-altering blows to the head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-855017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}