A recent boxing showcase in Brooklyn promised opportunity. But it exposed fighters to unnecessary risk in front of an enthusiastic crowd and an influential audience
The videos are troubling. They’ve made their way online through social media and other postings.
A club fighter, Jacob Solis, is in the ring with a world-class fighter named Marquis Taylor. Both men are wearing headgear. Solis is under the impression that this is a sparring session. Taylor has been incentivized to treat the encounter as something more.
Solis is staggered by a roundhouse right to the side of his head. Lurching forward, defenseless, he’s punched hard again; this time by an illegal blow to the back of his head. As he slumps forward, a third roundhouse right – also to the back of his head – drives him to the canvas. There’s no referee. No one helps Solis as he struggles to rise and staggers toward a corner.
The overflow crowd loves it. The blow-by-blow commentator calling the livestream, watched by thousands of viewers, sounds enthralled.
