The man above you is Z Gorres. He is now walking again after being partially paralyzed following a subdural hematoma in his last fight on November 13, 2009 against Luis Melendez.
It’s a night I’ll never forget. The fight took place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and I was in attendance with a group of newfound boxing colleagues. It was just my second time in Vegas, and I was pumped to be covering Pacquiao-Cotto the following night at the MGM Grand. When I got the news the Mandalay Bay had a card for this evening, I was down to cover it. Live boxing to kick off a Friday night, why not?
Gorres dominated the bout before being dropped hard in the 10th and final round with 30 seconds left. Despite the back of his head slamming into the bottom rope, Gorres got up and made it through ok to get a unanimous decision. Without warning he suddenly collapsed in the corner while trying to leave the ring. As he was being wheeled past me on a stretcher in the press area, everyone was somber. We all instinctively knew that his career and possibly life was over.
Gorres survived, but racked up $600,000 in hospital bills over a two-month intensive care stay. The insurance he carried to the ring that night through the promoter was only $50,000, leaving Nevada taxpayers to cover the remaining $550,000.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal posted an informative article today on a new bill aimed at significantly increasing the amount of insurance required for fighters to compete in Nevada. The bill, created by Democrat/Assemblyman Harvey J. Munford, would also require a fund to assist in paying for injuries retired boxers and MMA fighters sustained in their careers.
The money would come from a $1 increase per ticket on fights that gross over $500,000, and a .50 cent ticket increase on fights under $500,000. In addition, the bill asks for competing boxers to have their insurance in Nevada raised from $50,000 per fight to $200,000.
The issue for the opposing side is that the fund for retired boxers is putting the onus only on Nevada when fighters compete all over the globe. In addition, officials fear the big insurance leap would possibly discourage promoters from bringing more fights to Vegas.
While cases like Gorres aren’t everyday occurences, they aren’t exactly uncommon. Because he had a name, he’s one of the stories that we heard about. Boxers put their lives on the line every time they step in the ring. Las Vegas isn’t losing big fights, and promoters should be willing to cough up the extra cash to ensure fighters like Z Gorres don’t spend the rest of their lives in debt after giving everything to the sport of boxing.
What are your thoughts on this bill? What would you add or subtract from it?
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 
Vegas will never lose out, the cost of hotels, casinos and all the rest of the money punters bring into LV is crazy, few extra dollas on A ticket means nothing… If anything the big casinos and other establishments that profit from A big fight night should Be the ones hit, not the fans… But whats an extra few $ on A ticket for big fight??? The promoters anyway should maybe the ones to swallow the extra charges…
Boxing is A dangerous sport, and the fighters should Be protected, like anyother employee is at any job, builders, miners, electricians, barmen, bouncers, office workers etc so it goes without saying they need the right insurance, I cant believe 50gs was even thought to Be enough coverage for A fighter, one brain scan must Be nearly that!
But the big name fighters can earn unfathomable amounts of money in their time, so they should stack money and prepare for aftercare in later life…
SkySport did A piece about fighters who suffered brain damage, Michael Watson, Paul Ingle, Spencer Oliver etc unfortunately it seems Ingle is really struggling to come to terms with his situation…
I think it was only after the Watson fight it became mandatory to administer oxygen in the ring or put them into an induced coma to stop the brain swelling, one of them, maybe even both, which in turn has since saved alot of lives…
Falling and hitting the back of your head on the ropes or floor is usually the main factor in these tragic storys…
I think the Governing Bodies need to do more to protect fighters to, letting the Roy Joneses, Briggs, Hollyfields etc carry on fighting is A disgrace, I dont blame the fighters, because they have the bug, it should Be the BBOC’s job to take their licensees away