Prichard Colons and Terrell Williams, should there have been consequences?

Question

I realize this story is older but I just heard about it for the first time. I don't know much about boxing but Terrell was making illegal moves during his fight with Prichard and the referee never called him out. Terrell ended up hitting Prichard in the back of the head putting the match to an end since Prichard was severely injured. He ended up in a hospital where he was put in a coma due to his brain injury. Prichard is now in a vegetative state, wheelchair bound. The family takes care of him and physical therapists work with him, but they say he'll never go back to how he used to be. Terrell and the ref had a lot of media backlash but neither lost their job. Some say they should be in jail, others say they should've lost their jobs, and some think its fine that there was no punishment. I think jail is too much but I also think it's messed up that they had zero consequences for ruining another man's life. What are your thoughts on the situation?

Answer

He knew exactly what he was doing. It is well known in boxing that the rabbit punch is a illegal shot, it is illegal because it’s known it can cause serious brain injuries. Prichard even complained in the middle of the fight to the referee that he kept taking the illegal shot. Even after that the guy continued to hit him in the back of the head multiple times. He is a professional and I believe he knew what he was doing and how he was putting Prichard’s life in danger. If he only hit him one time I could see if being a accident but since it was several times he hit him in the back of the head I think he should be charged and definitely never allowed to fight again.

Answer

Boxing is a sport. There are rules. The two people in the ring are professionals. They should not be causing actual long lasting harm like what happened. The ref should be fired and the opponent should have some kind of penalty against him. When you step in the ring it’s a GAME, not a death match.

Answer

I read an interview with Terrel Williams and I really don't get the feeling that he is particularly repentant. In a pretty short article, he used I, me, my, myself, and other variants of the same 77 times and mentioned Colon 11 times. It was a very self-focused article - me, my future, my needs, my prospects. There was also a lot of taking the role of victim - Colon's family is attacking me, nobody supports me, people are being mean, etc. It didn't come off well, though it was only one interview, which I think is important to clarify.
While I don't know much about boxing, I do know that rabbit punches can actually be fatal and I have a hard time believing that Williams didn't know what he was doing. If he wanted to inflict maximum harm, that was the way to do it. He shouldn't be able to box professionally anymore and I do think jail time is warranted for him and the ref who refused to call it and make him stop. A punch like that is not a mistake and Colon's life will never be the same again.

Answer

Boxing has rules for the safety of the people boxing, he didn’t follow the rules and the other guy is seriously injured for life. He needs to be in jail. He’s not a real boxer in my eyes. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Answer

For those who are not aware of what a rabbit punch is and/or can do:

Answer

In my humble opinion, this “sport” is dumb AF in general and I hate that people hitting and harming eachother is considered good old entertainment 😬 but to answer your question, yes- there should be consequences. They all go in the ring with the intent to harm in order to win BUT he crossed a line and he knew exactly what he was doing.

Answer

A permanent ban for both the ref and the boxer. Rules are in place for a reason, and ignoring them has no place in sports.
The ref is there to protect and enforce the rules and sadly it was ignored. He failed in his job.
Jail time? Maybe if it was premeditated/fixed. I’d support an investigation, but there are risks involved in this sport… so jail time is hard to prove. A civil lawsuit, perhaps more suitable.

Prichard Colons and Terrell Williams, should there have been consequences?

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