NEW YORK — Former unified super middleweight titleholder Shadasia Green revealed that she suffered a brain bleed in her loss Friday night to Lani Daniels.
Green, who was removed from the ring on a stretcher after being stopped in the ninth round at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, was taken to a hospital afterwards, where the New Jersey native remained on Sunday night. Green gave an update on her condition on her Instagram account, revealing in a story that she is still in the intensive care unit but on the road to recovery.
“With everything in me I wanna thank those who had great concern and even the people who figured out during the fight something was wrong,” wrote Green, now 16-2 (11 KOs).
“I passed out due to bleeding out of my brain…however I am in ICU on the road to healing. I’ll be back to get what’s mine 100% covered.”
Green elaborated on her condition in a Facebook post, stating that doctors identified a 9-millimeter bleed on her brain, though she indicated it was being treated with medication and did not require surgery.
"I was winning the fight until my injury got the best of me," said Green, who adds that her wife and mother are by her side in the hospital.
The 36-year-old Green, of Paterson, N.J., was fighting for the first time since unifying two 168lbs belts in a split decision win over Savannah Marshall last July.
An email seeking comment was sent to Green’s promoter, Most Valuable Promotions, but was not responded to by the time of this story’s publication.
Green had issued a statement on Saturday through MVP, stating that she “suffered some injuries” during the final rounds of the fight while adding “I’m currently resting and recovering, and look forward to coming back better than ever.”
Green’s status on her BoxRec page shows that she is currently under indefinite suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission pending neurological clearance.
While the New York State Athletic Commission does not explicitly impose a lifetime ban on fighters who have suffered brain injuries, their medical standards make it exceedingly difficult to be licensed again following brain trauma. According to their medical manual, which was updated in November of 2022, “combatants who have sustained serious traumatic brain injuries are not eligible to compete,” adding that “combatants fighting in New York must take an acceptable MRI scan demonstrating the absence of a head injury.”
New York has declined in the past to license boxers who have suffered brain injuries, including former heavyweight contender “Baby” Joe Mesi, who suffered multiple subdural hematomas during his 2004 bout with Vassiliy Jirov. Mesi would remain out of the ring for more than two years before returning for a handful of bouts in states with less stringent medical guidelines like Arkansas and Michigan before retiring for good in 2007.
Edwin Valero, a Venezuelan fighter who eventually won the WBC lightweight championship, had fought three times in California before an MRI conducted prior to a 2004 bout detected a past subdural hematoma. That injury stemmed from a 2001 motorcycle accident. Valero would fight just once more in the United States, winning his world title by second-round stoppage in Texas in 2009.
While subdural hematomas are among the most serious brain injuries in boxing, not all brain bleeds fall into that category, with several types of intracranial hemorrhages possible depending on the nature of the trauma, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
