Fighting For Life; Boxer in Critical Condition

19 year old Jovany Medina of Madras is a star boxer at the Central Oregon Golden Gloves Academy. Training since he was 12 years old with Coach Mark Evans he was favored to win the Oregon Golden Gloves Tournament over the weekend at the Deschutes County Expo Center. In the 152 weight class during the finals Saturday he was punched in the face and knocked down four times before the referee called the fight in favor of his Vancouver opponent. Ten minutes later, his coach noticed something was wrong and called for help. At St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, Jovany quickly underwent surgery. "He's got probably more heart than most of the boxers I've ever seen, and maybe that heart might have been part of the problem here, you know, a lesser fighter might have went down and stayed down but his idea when he got hurt was to fight harder," said his coach Mark Evans.

Jovany trained hard and worked hard. Coach Evans says he worked ten hour days at Central Oregon Seed Incorporated to support his family and three brothers. In his career, Jovany has boxed in over 50 matches with no signs of complications. "I know he didn't think about it, but we know there's risks we're going to have to take when we go in there," said his friend Antonio Villanueva.

"Once in a while you read about these things happening especially in the pros once in a great while but it's very rare for it to take place, especially in the amateurs," said Evans.

Jovany's friends say they thought of all the boxers, he'd turn pro. It's unknown what caused Jovany's injury. Evan's said in cases like this it's usually an unknown, pre-existing injury. Jovany's medical bills will be covered through the boxing association's medical insurance. But an account has been set up to help the family pay cost of living expenses. Jovany's father was recently laid off and his mother can't work since she just had a baby.

If you would like to help-- donations are being taken at any Wells Fargo location under the name Boxer, Jovany Medina.