Charles Conwell to fight on after fateful bout with Patrick Day
Posted: 24 Dec 2019, 08:27
The junior middleweight prospect is planning his return to boxing following the tragic death of an opponent.
You and me, it might be close to impossible to get back to business, as compared to the situation for Charles Conwell.
The Ohio boxer has been on the ascent since turning pro after the 2016 Olympics. He was taking incremental steps up the ladder, and his Oct. 12 fight against Patrick Day was on paper perhaps his stiffest challenge. The junior middleweight, age 22, handled his business in sharp fashion, looking like a prospect soon to graduate to contender status.
Then fate injected itself hard into the matter. In round 10, the Long Island-based Day absorbed several hard shots in that Chicago ring, and down he went. He was unconscious, and he would not fully regain his faculties. The 27-year-old pugilist stopped breathing on the way to the hospital, and his brain bore the brunt of being without proper oxygenation. The popular and personable athlete fought, but on Oct. 16, his battle ended. Day died, and the fight game contended with the tragedy.
We felt for his family, for his friends, for his trainer, team, and his opponent, Conwell.
The “winner” admitted he stayed up all night Saturday into Sunday, praying for a miracle. It wasn’t to be.
We wondered, would he, could he, come back to the ring? This has been his vocational trajectory — would he want to solider on, and if he did, could he summon the same aggression that brought him eight KOs in 11 wins?
Yes, he decided pretty quickly, he’d fight on. Chats with family, friends, and even Pat’s trainer, Joe Higgins, helped form his decision.
I fight on, he decided.
On Jan. 31, Conwell will glove up again, in the Philadelphia area, against an opponent to be named.
And how is he mentally?
”Great,” said the boxer, promoted by DiBella Entertainment.
And yes, he admitted that pragmatics play a part in his return.
“Bills are due,” he said.
Does he think he will be the same sort of fighter, since that fateful night?
”I will be new and improved,” Conwell declared. ”Training camp is going to get me tight, all the way up. Sparring, training, running will take me up!”
You and me, it might be close to impossible to get back to business, as compared to the situation for Charles Conwell.
The Ohio boxer has been on the ascent since turning pro after the 2016 Olympics. He was taking incremental steps up the ladder, and his Oct. 12 fight against Patrick Day was on paper perhaps his stiffest challenge. The junior middleweight, age 22, handled his business in sharp fashion, looking like a prospect soon to graduate to contender status.
Then fate injected itself hard into the matter. In round 10, the Long Island-based Day absorbed several hard shots in that Chicago ring, and down he went. He was unconscious, and he would not fully regain his faculties. The 27-year-old pugilist stopped breathing on the way to the hospital, and his brain bore the brunt of being without proper oxygenation. The popular and personable athlete fought, but on Oct. 16, his battle ended. Day died, and the fight game contended with the tragedy.
We felt for his family, for his friends, for his trainer, team, and his opponent, Conwell.
The “winner” admitted he stayed up all night Saturday into Sunday, praying for a miracle. It wasn’t to be.
We wondered, would he, could he, come back to the ring? This has been his vocational trajectory — would he want to solider on, and if he did, could he summon the same aggression that brought him eight KOs in 11 wins?
Yes, he decided pretty quickly, he’d fight on. Chats with family, friends, and even Pat’s trainer, Joe Higgins, helped form his decision.
I fight on, he decided.
On Jan. 31, Conwell will glove up again, in the Philadelphia area, against an opponent to be named.
And how is he mentally?
”Great,” said the boxer, promoted by DiBella Entertainment.
And yes, he admitted that pragmatics play a part in his return.
“Bills are due,” he said.
Does he think he will be the same sort of fighter, since that fateful night?
”I will be new and improved,” Conwell declared. ”Training camp is going to get me tight, all the way up. Sparring, training, running will take me up!”