Despite Protests of WBC President At Ringside To Stop Bout, Corner Allows Moises Fuentes To Get Knocked Unconscious
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Cancun, Mexico (October 17th, 2021)– Ignoring the suggestion and protest of world Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman between rounds, and the Cuellar management team, who was ringside for the ESPN+ main event on Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Grand Oasis Hotel in Cancun, Mexico. Former WBC Strawweight champion Moises Fuentes was allowed by his corner to come out for one more round, and was brutally knocked out unconscious by a left hook from 20-0 prospect David Cuellar of Queretaro, Mexico, in the sixth round of a regional vacant WBC Silver Youth Super Flyweight title bout. Fuentes’ right eye was swollen from Cuellar jabs.
Fuentes, 25-7-1 with 14 knockouts, Mexico City, Mexico, was immediately transported to one of three local hospitals, Amerimed, Cancun General, or Galenia Hospital, on a stretcher for emergency surgery. His prognosis is unknown. It wasn’t stated if it was brain surgery.
Fuentes had lost four of five bouts coming in and had been inactive for 37 months, since losing at T-Mobile Arena in September 2018 to Roman Gonzalez by fifth-round stoppage. Since December 2016, Fuentes has lost five of six comeback attempts, getting knocked out four times, including his last three pro bouts in the past three and a half years. Combine inactivity, age, and poor performance, and the stage is probably set for a possible fatality.
The warning signs were there, and the Fuentes corner did not heed the red flags. Fuentes, with exception of two first-round knockouts, had not won a high stakes bout in six years. This raises a question as to why the WBC would sanction Fuentes in a televised title bout. A boxer pushing 35 years old is not 28 years old, and after years of inactivity, you do not push an ex-champ or former contender into a title bout of any kind. The Coronavirus pandemic created inactivity, which has wreaked havoc on the best of fighters, including former champions Julian Williams and Mikey Garcia, who lost televised bouts by ten-round decision in the past two consecutive weekends after long stretches of inactivity.
Sulaiman released a statement stating “Moises Flores has been admitted to the hospital after the dramatic knockout. The boxing community unites in prayer for his recovery.” Fuentes should have been retired long before the tragedy was sanctioned anyway. If ringside officials cannot heed the prudent ringside advice of the president of the WBC, the WBO, the WBO, the IBF or the IBO, then ringside officials should not be allowed to conduct boxing shows. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has feelings of the experience.
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