The family of Puerto Rican super-welterweight boxer Prichard Colon continued a bedside vigil at his Virginia hospital room Tuesday after the fighter suffered a brain injury in a Saturday night bout that has spawned an internal investigation.

Colon, a 23-year-old prospect who had been unbeaten before his disqualification loss to unbeaten Terrel Williams in Fairfax, Va., complained of being dizzy during the fight, then later vomited after the bout and was quickly transported to a local hospital, where he underwent emergency brain surgery to relieve cranial pressure. He remains in a coma.

“It’s a profound injury,” said Lou DiBella, who promoted the undercard fight for the Premier Boxing Champions on NBC card headlined by Lamont Peterson. “He’s in a state where you pray, hope and wait.”

Al Haymon, the powerful boxing manager from Southern California who created Premier Boxing Champions, visited Colon at the hospital Monday, a PBC spokesman confirmed.


The Washington Post reported that Colon suffered bleeding from the left side of his brain. Colon was seen pointing to the left side of his head with a gloved hand during the fight.

A family spokesman Monday reported on the fighter’s Facebook page that Colon can breathe voluntarily and that doctors were working to agitate the boxer to get him to move his arms and legs.

Colon’s fight with Williams is what those in the fight game describe as “chippy,” and it featured a few behind-the-head punches by Williams.

One caused Colon to take an extended break, and when another came in the seventh round, referee Joseph Cooper deducted a point from Williams.


Colon complained to Cooper about the behind-the-head punching, according to eyewitnesses, and Virginia Boxing Commissioner David Holland told the Los Angeles Times that he attended the bout and at one point had an exchange with the fighter from a corner.

Holland, however, declined to answer questions about that dialogue, including a suggestion by at least one member of Colon’s camp that his complaints were dismissed as “faking.” Holland referred questions to a spokeswoman for the boxing’s commission’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

That spokeswoman, Mary Vaughan, told The Times that her department had launched an internal investigation of “the situation, the incident and the cause.

“It’s far too premature to explore who said what to whom and when,” Vaughan said. “David hasn’t indicated everything he said. He expressed to [the corners] to get the fighters under control, and not to engage in stall tactics. Right now, we’re like everyone else, still hopeful of Prichard’s full recovery.”


An official familiar with the boxer’s relatives but unauthorized to discuss information publicly about Colon, said the family has requested a copy of a video of the bout. Colon’s father, Richard, was in his corner during the bout.

Colon was disciplined himself in the fifth round, with Cooper deducting a rare two points from him for hitting Williams with a low blow.

In the ninth round, Williams took control, knocking Colon down twice. Colon’s cornermen accidentally cut off his gloves following the ninth round — mistakenly thinking it had been the 10th and final round — and Cooper disqualified Colon.

Puerto Rico boxing writer Carlos Gonzalez of Primera Hora said he visited two of Colon’s aunts in Puerto Rico on Monday and learned that the family would conduct a vigil in the fighter’s homeland Tuesday evening.


“They want to respect the process, for now, and handle Prichard’s health,” Gonzalez said. “He’s considered a good prospect, only has a few years in. We didn’t know his future, but he was a good talent who beat [former super-lightweight world champion] Vivian Harris, and he was fighting frequently enough to be considered a future title contender.”

Follow Lance Pugmire on Twitter @latimespugmire