Prichard Colón

Prichard Colón Meléndez (born September 19, 1992) is an American former professional boxer and gold medal winner at the 2010 Panamerican Youth Championship in the 64 kg (141 pounds) category.[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Colón and the second or maternal family name is Meléndez.
Prichard Colón
Statistics
Real namePrichard Colón Meléndez
Nickname(s)Digget
Weight(s)Super welterweight
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Reach74 in (188 cm)
NationalityAmerican
Born (1992-09-19) September 19, 1992
Maitland, Florida, U.S.
Boxing record
Total fights17
Wins16
Wins by KO13
Losses1

Early years and amateur career

Prichard Colón was born in Maitland, Florida. His parents are Nieves and Richard Colón, a retired serviceman.[2][3] At the age of 10, his family decided to move to Puerto Rico, so Prichard could represent the island in competitions. The family settled in the rural town of Orocovis, Puerto Rico.[4]

Colón started his career at the Albergue Olímpico in Salinas, Puerto Rico. It was there that he earned the nickname of "Digget", which comes from the word "digger" in relation to his height. After graduating high school, Colón started studying Business Administration at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[3]

During his amateur career, Colón gained fame for winning 5 national championships in both the 141 and 152 pound divisions.[5][6] He also won the gold medal at the 2010 Panamerican Youth Championship in the 64 kg category.[7] He fought at the Brazil Pre-Olympics to win a pass to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but lost to a Venezuelan fighter in the third round.

In 2012, Colón decided to become a professional fighter. He ended his amateur career with a 170–15 record.[8]

Professional career

Colón made his professional debut on February 23, 2013. His first Fight was against Xavier La Salle at the Cosme Beitía Salamo Coliseum in Cataño, Puerto Rico. Colón knocked out LaSalle in the first round. Colón distinguished himself for his restless schedule. He fought five times in 2013 and 7 times in 2014.[9] His most notable fight came on September 9, 2015 when he fought against Vivian Harris, a more experienced fighter. The fight was held at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and ended with Colón knocking out Harris in the fourth round.[5][10]

On October 17, 2015, Colón was slated to fight Terrell Williams in an undercard fight at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia. The fight wasn't originally part of the schedule, but was added when Andre Dirrell stepped out from his fight with Blake Caparello for medical reasons.[11] The fight occurred just one month after Colón's last fight against Vivian Harris.[9]

Colón fought Williams for nine rounds, during which both fighters were penalized. Colón was penalized for a low blow, while Williams was penalized for hitting Colón in the back of the head. In the ninth round, Williams knocked Colón down twice, and Colón didn't return for the tenth round.[12] Colón's corner claimed he was incoherent and experiencing dizziness. After the fight, Colón was vomiting and was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with brain bleeding. As a result, Colón went into a coma.[13]

Colón was treated for several weeks at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia, but was eventually transferred to Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia.[14][15] After being in coma for 221 days, since his fight against Terrell Williams,[16] Colón was moved from the hospital to his mother's home in Orlando, Florida.[17] As of April 2017, Colón had remained in a persistent vegetative state.[18]

In July 2018, Colón's mother posted a video of Colón on her Facebook account in which he can be seen taking physical therapy and responding to verbal commands. She also stated that he was learning how to communicate through a computer.[19]

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
17 fights 16 wins 1 loss
By knockout 13 0
By decision 3 0
By disqualification 0 1
Draws 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
17 Loss 16–1 Terrel Williams DQ 9 (10) Oct 17, 2015 EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
16 Win 16–0 Vivian Harris KO 4 (6), 1:03 Sep 11, 2015 Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
15 Win 15–0 Michael Finney TKO 2 Aug 1, 2015 Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
14 Win 14–0 Daniel Calzada TKO Apr 11, 2015 Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
13 Win 13–0 Héctor Muñoz UD Jan 31, 2015 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
12 Win 12–0 Christopher Degollado UD Sep 11, 2014 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
11 Win 11–0 Lenwood Dozier UD Aug 9, 2014 Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
10 Win 10–0 Carlos García Hernández TKO Jun 19, 2014 Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
9 Win 9–0 Javier García TKO Apr 28, 2014 Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
8 Win 8–0 Shad Howard TKO Mar 15, 2014 Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
7 Win 7–0 José Vidal Soto TKO Jan 25, 2014 Gimnasio Manuel Toribio, Jacagua
6 Win 6–0 Víctor Moya TKO Jan 19, 2014 Arena del Masacre, Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic
5 Win 5–0 Jonathan García RTD Dec 21, 2013 Coliseo Cosme Beitía Salamo, Cataño, Puerto Rico
4 Win 4–0 Juan Ramón Santos TKO Dec 7, 2013 Coliseo Pedro Julio Nolasco, La Romana, Dominican Republic
3 Win 3–0 Jorge Burgos TKO Nov 9, 2013 Coliseo Pedro Julio Nolasco, La Romana, Dominican Republic
2 Win 2–0 Patrick Thomas TKO Mar 23, 2013 Bahia Shrine Temple, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
1 Win 1–0 Xavier Lasalle KO Feb 23, 2013 Coliseo Cosme Beitía Salamo, Cataño, Puerto Rico

References
  1. "Panamerican Youth Championships - Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic - February 21-25 2010".
  2. Sánchez Fournier, José (October 23, 2015). "Prichard Colón muestra señales de mejoría". El Nuevo Día. Retrieved October 23, 2015. (in Spanish)
  3. Gaudier, Jonathan (June 11, 2012). "El orocoveño Prichard "Digget" Colón, se prepara para dar el salto al profesionalismo". PRBoxea.com. Retrieved October 20, 2015. (in Spanish)
  4. Rivera Giusti, Carlos (April 18, 2015). "Prichard "Digget" Colón: Boricua por decisión unánime". NotiCel. Retrieved October 23, 2015. (in Spanish)
  5. Sloan, Mike (September 9, 2015). "Boxing: Prichard Colon to Face Vivian Harris in PBC on Spike Undercard". SherDog.com. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  6. "Regresa en gran cartelera el prospecto Prichard Colón". Mr. Boxing. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015. (in Spanish)
  7. "Panamerican Youth Championships - Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic - February 21-25 2010".
  8. Lardies, Jesse Ian (March 15, 2013). "The Boxing Tribune interviews former amateur standout, Prichard Colon". The Boxing Tribune. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  9. Bracelin, Jason (October 6, 2015). "Hot prospect Prichard Colon faces undefeated Terrel Williams on October 17". PremierBoxingChampions. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  10. Burton, Ryan (September 20, 2015). "Prichard Colon Reflects on his Brutal KO of Vivian Harris". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  11. "Prichard Colon vs. Terrel Williams replaces Dirrell-Caparello on 10/17". Boxing News 24. October 5, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  12. Donovan, Jake (October 17, 2015). "Terrell Williams Claims DQ Win Over Prichard Colón". BoxingScene. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  13. Scavone, Jason (October 17, 2015). "Terrel Williams upends Prichard Colon in odd disqualification". PremierBoxingChampions. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  14. Narváez, Carlos (November 3, 2015). "Trasladarán a Prichard Colón a un centro de rehabilitación en Atlanta". ESPN. Retrieved November 6, 2015. (in Spanish)
  15. Sánchez Fournier, José A. (November 26, 2015). "Prichard Colón sigue su batalla". El Nuevo Día. Retrieved November 26, 2015. (in Spanish)
  16. Rafael, Dan (March 29, 2016). "Prichard Colon has surgery again; family says to pray 'for a miracle'". ESPN. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  17. Sánchez Fournier, José A. (May 26, 2016). "Dan de alta a Prichard Colón". El Nuevo Día. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  18. Weinbaum, William (April 15, 2017). "Shattered dreams". ESPN. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  19. "Prichard sigue mejorando: va hasta de shopping". Primera Hora (in Spanish). July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
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