MGM fighter collapses, dies

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

Asked to say a few words from his seat at the dais, Pedro Alcazar drew a chuckle from the assembled press conference crowd by keeping his comments to an absolute minimum.

"I'm 25-0-2, not 25-0-1," he said through an interpreter, referring to his boxing record and the fact it was incorrectly listed on the bout sheet that had been provided for the media.

He made the remark last Wednesday at an event designed to hype last Saturday's Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales fight at the MGM Grand Garden. Alcazar, who was fighting Fernando Montiel in a 12-round bout at 115 pounds on the Barrera vs. Morales undercard, neither said anything else nor was asked anything else publicly at the press conference.

He would go on to lose the fight by sixth-round stoppage, and, far more surprisingly, collapse Monday morning while showering in his hotel room at the MGM and die later in the day at Desert Springs Hospital.

"I've never seen anything like it," Dr. Flip Homansky of the Nevada State Athletic Commission told the Associated Press. "There was nothing medically out of line. I was totally surprised by this.

"If anybody had shown the least bit of concern, we would have sent him to the hospital."

While some in the crowd felt referee Kenny Bayless jumped the gun in stopping Alcazar's fight with Montiel, there was little to protest and Alcazar's cornermen later said they agreed with the decision. Alcazar was getting hit hard to both the head and the body, and his most visible reaction to losing the bout was the fact that he quietly cried before leaving the ring.

Alcazar, a single parent of two and a native and resident of Panama, was 26.

"I'm stunned and deeply grieved," said promoter Bob Arum, whose Top Rank firm co-promoted the card.

Alcazar was fighting for the first time in the United States and brought the lightly regarded World Boxing Organization junior bantamweight championship belt into the ring with him. He had won the title with a decision over Nicaragua's Adonis Rivas and had successfully defended it twice, against Colombia's Jose Otero and Panama's Alfredo Toro.

But Montiel, 24-0-1, dominated their fight even though he never knocked Alcazar down.

"He had brain swelling from some cause," Homansky said. "It was a total surprise and we're not sure why it happened. But you can't ignore he was in a professional boxing match Saturday night."

Homansky, Dr. Margaret Goodman and Dr. William Berliner each spoke to Alcazar after the fight.

An autopsy is scheduled to be performed.

Alcazar, who was also involved in what was described as a minor automobile accident last December, remained in Las Vegas after the fight and is said to have spent Sunday sightseeing.

He becomes the fifth pro fighter to die shortly after a fight in Las Vegas in the past 20 years. The others: Duk-Koo Kim, 1982, after losing to Ray Mancini at Caesars Palace; Robert Wangila, 1994, after losing to David Gonzales at the Aladdin; Jimmy Garcia, 1995, after losing to Gabe Ruelas at Caesars Palace; and Johnny Montantes, 1997, after losing to James Crayton at the Orleans.