Anxiety and concern engulfed Little Caesars Arena after boxer Joseph George Jr. collapsed in between the primary and second rounds during his fight against Atif Oberlton. The Houston, Texas native was sitting on his stool when he passed out and fell to the mat. He received immediate medical attention, was eventually helped out of the ring and was taken to an area hospital for further evaluation. George is in stable condition and is undergoing an MRI, per ESPN’s Eric Woodyard.
Hopefully, there may be more encouraging news to come back. The explanation for this frightening moment is believed to have occurred near the tip of the opening round, when each men inadvertently bumped heads while advancing toward each other. George sustained contact to the back of the top and staggered. He appeared nice throughout the routine regrouping period along with his trainer, until he went down abruptly.
Oberlton immediately became alarmed and gestured to his corner. He rushed over to examine on his opponent, tapping gloves before the medics hit the scene. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania resident later embraced George when the latter got back to his feet, because the two men engaged in a mutual show of respect amid the distressing situation.
“I’ve never seen nothing like that before in my life in the game of boxing,” Oberlton said, per Woodyard. “I used to be really concerned because all of us need to go in there and we would like to do what we would like to do and impose our will on our opponents, but we all the time want to depart and I’m an advocate for that… As a fighter you would like to leave the identical way you got here in.”
Atif Oberlton was declared the winner of the sunshine heavyweight bout via technical knockout, but he was not in a celebratory mood. There are specific times when results are rendered meaningless, and that was definitely the case in Detroit on Sunday night. The experience is causing the victor to really reflect on what it means to be knowledgeable boxer.
“I feel that it affected me mentally, which I already know — each time I am going into the ring, I say a prayer to God, and this is not any joke,” Oberlton said. “It impacted me in a way that anything can occur.”
Joseph George Jr. is probably going experiencing an analogous realization, as he awaits the outcomes of his MRI.