Sanchez survives scary KO

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 | 10:22 a.m.

It was a tremendously unsettling scene, complete with an apparent life-and-death situation.

With the TV cameras prying into the spectacle, featherweight contender Augie Sanchez of Las Vegas lay with his eyes closed, for all intents and purposes devoid of contact with the real world.

"Augie, Augie," his cornermen continually repeated, trying to rouse the fallen fighter. "Come on Augie, open your eyes."

It took several minutes, but Sanchez eventually did open his eyes after being knocked cold by John Michael Johnson last Friday in Indio, Calif. The fight was a quick one -- 31 seconds, including the 10 count -- but the aftermath, including the critical moments when an unconscious fighter is in dire need of medical attention, seemed to drag on for an inexcusable length of time.

And that's only the half of it.

"No, I'm not happy with how it was handled at all," said Sanchez's trainer and father-in-law, Pat Barry, referring to the post-fight theatrics that were initially caught by ESPN2 before the fighter and his entourage adjourned to a backstage cubicle. "It was pitiful and I was appalled by it."

The Association of Boxing Commissions and California law both require a physician at ringside for all fights, and Dr. Paul Wallace entered the ring after the knockout. But he did not identify himself and his efforts were suspect, Barry said.

"No emergency personnel came forward," Barry said. "There was a guy who I thought was with the commission that came in and knelt there, but he didn't do anything. To this moment I don't know if he was a doctor or not."

In addition, Barry said "there was no oxygen at ringside and no sign of any paramedic crews." Barry and his assistant, Miguel Diaz, eventually got Sanchez propped up and, later, to his dressing room where a second doctor, Dr. Howard Baer, arrived but seemed disinterested, Barry said.

"He came in but didn't do anything at all beyond telling us they were holding Augie's check for a while," Barry said. "He didn't do anything that you would expect a doctor to do.

"In fact, all he told us was to wait there for an hour. It was terrible."

Such an arguably poor response would be inappropriate under any conditions, and particularly so in this case given the force of Johnson's knockout punch.

"We didn't expect him to do it, but Johnson came out in high gear and hit Augie high on the temple with a punch that would have dropped an elephant," Barry said. "As soon as that punch landed, the fight was over. I don't even know why the referee bothered counting."

Beyond elevating Johnson's record to 30-7 and placing the former World Boxing Association champion back in the title picture, the fight demonstrated Sanchez's vulnerability. While he's still a respectable 28-3 and only 24 years old, this was the second severe knockout Sanchez has suffered and many in the sport believe he should retire.

His KO-4 loss to Prince Naseem Hamed on Aug. 19, 2000, in Connecticut is still recalled for a gruesome ending in which Sanchez was carried out of the ring strapped to a stretcher and headed for a hospital.

"He's doing fine," Barry said of Sanchez's present status. "We're going to have some neurological tests done, then go from there."

As for Sanchez needing or wanting to retire, Barry was noncommittal.

"Every time he steps into the ring, I have some concern," Barry said. "I have concern for every fighter, but I love Augie and he's my son-in-law.

"He has a high skill level, and he's the one who ultimately will have to make any decision about retiring or not.

"But he's a fighter and he's still wondering what went wrong. He has the heart of a lion."

That lion was wounded, however, and the medical response he received at the Fantasy Springs casino was insufficient from the fighter's handlers' perspective.

"I was disturbed by the length of time Augie was down," said Marc Ratner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who was watching on TV. "It was a very scary sight to see."

The California commission representative who was ringside, Dean Lohuis, said Wednesday he thought Wallace and Baer performed their jobs suitably and remarked that "Augie's corner clearly was very panicked. They were yelling 'Call 911' and 'Call an ambulance.'

"I thought the doctors responded just fine. But any time criticism like this is leveled against us, I'm concerned."

The ringside physician, Dr. Wallace, agreed with Lohuis, saying "I've got a credibility issue" with Barry's complaints and added that the degree of the emergency was in the eye of the beholder.

"We (in California) are unparalleled with any other state or commission, and that stands on its own. We had no critical problems (with Sanchez) and he never was in any danger. He had a Grade 3 concussion but he never lost total consciousness.

"There was nothing disconcerting about his situation."