Pedro Guevara’s promoter says the fighter appears to be fine after a frightening end to his bout Saturday against junior bantamweight contender Tomoya Tsuboi in Tokyo, Japan.
Just 20 seconds into the second round, the fighters clashed heads as Guevara came forward with a punch. Tsuboi had ducked down to avoid the shot, and the top of his cranium collided with Guevara’s face. Guevara let out a pained yelp and dropped to the canvas on all fours. He soon tried to stand but collapsed back down.
The referee, with a hand on Guevara’s back, called for a doctor to enter the ring. Tsuboi walked over and looked down with concern before returning to a neutral corner.
Soon Guevara was on his back as a physician checked on him. He was still conscious and responsive, just clearly in significant distress. After two minutes of Guevara being on the mat, the referee waved the fight off. Only then was a medical backboard brought into the ring, and two minutes later Guevara was carried out.
Under commission rules, the fight was ruled a technical draw rather than a no-contest.
About 12 hours later, Bxstrs Promotions posted an update on social media with good news:
“Pedro was taken to receive medical attention in Tokyo following the strong head clash in his bout against Tsuboi, which prevented him from continuing,” the post said. “The pertinent medical tests were performed on him, including a CT scan, and fortunately, he is doing well, stable at his hotel after spending a few hours under observation.”
Tsuboi, a 30-year-old who was coming off a stoppage win over Carlos Cuadras that sent Cuadras into retirement, is now 3-0-1 (2 KOs). Guevara, a 36-year-old who held a world title at 108lbs from 2014 to 2015, is now 43-5-3 (22 KOs).
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
