The moral of Israel Vazquez’s story is not just the dangers of boxing, but the dangers of how fighters are helped to recover from their injuries.
Like in any sport, the choice that the athlete makes in terms of how they will recover from an injury can have great implications on their lives as a whole.
A basketball player that declines surgery after a torn knee ligament, will reap the rewards in terms of a quicker return – ultimately losing less of their prime– but it will eventually catch up with them in their years of retirement.
As for Vazquez, it was in fact the surgeries that he went under to repair his eye that have cost him his eye entirely.
It was understandable that a fighter who suffers such damage around the same tissue, would look to other ways to solve the problem, but when talking to ESPN Deportes, Vazquez highlighted a certain surgical procedure that took place after his final fight with Rafael Marquez – the 4th bout of their extraordinary series of fights.
Vazquez said:
“I had many surgeries and they tried many methods and one of them was to put silicone in the eye.”
It was later revealed to Vazquez that the silicone had hardened, causing vision issues.
There were two options for Vazquez, the one he declined was to wait for the eye to dry out which could take many years. Vazquez opted for the second option, to remove his right eye and replace it with a prosthesis.
This is a great shame for a fighter that gave so much entertainment to all boxing fans through a memorable career. Vazquez fought 49 times, culminating in a 44-5 (32KO’s) record.
He was a three-time world champion, winning all his belts in the Super Bantamweight division. T
Thankfully the Mexican seems optimistic about his future, which highlights how much damage the surgery has caused to his vision.
Everyone at Boxing News and Views would like to wish Israel Vazquez all the best with his surgery and in future endeavours.
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