The story of the 30-year-old former professional boxer Prichard Colon is one of the saddest stories in the world of boxing.

Upon moving to the island of Puerto Rico at the age of 10, Colon picked up boxing and decided to turn pro in 2013 at the age of 21. From 2013 to 2015, he attained an impressive record of 16-1. However, his last bout inside the squared circle, wherein he suffered his only career defeat, turned out to be his last.

In his October 2015 bout against Terrel Williams, Prichard Colon suffered a DQ loss. During the fight, he suffered multiple blows to the back of his head which went unnoticed by the referee, the same caused bleeding in his brain and Colon collapsed in the dressing room.

Colon later fell into a coma that lasted 221 days. During this time, he was in a vegetative state and was confined to a bed, and moved around in a wheelchair. In 2021, it was revealed by the WBC that a fragment of his skull collapsed and was pressing against his brain. This called for an immediate surgery and that part of his skull was replaced with a plate.

As of now, he is in a state of post-coma unresponsiveness, however, his condition is stable and is steadily improving as well.

When Deontay Wilder broke down while talking about Prichard Colon

In his last fight against Robert Helenius, Deontay Wilder secured a first-round KO victory. Despite winning the bout in emphatic fashion, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ was rather distraught and spoke about the risk that fighters take while stepping into the squared circle.

While speaking about what happened to Prichard Colon, Deontay Wilder had this to say during a post-fight press conference:

“Yeah it’s a great knockout, it’s devastating, but how much is that man gonna suffer? And we’ve seen what happened. Look at Colon, Prichard Colon. This man didn’t have no kids. Y’all don’t f***ing understand what we go through man. And I don’t even know him like that, but I’ll always be an advocate for us.”

He added:

“This man will never know what it feels like to be somebody’s father and that’s the most precious thing in the world to be somebody’s father. But he’ll never be nobody’s father man. This man will never have a natural living again because he got in the ring to support his family. Now his family have gotta take care of him for the rest of his life.”