Fatal Bout Is Being Investigated : Ambulance Arrival Slow After Velazquez Fell, Witnesses Say

The California Athletic Commission began an investigation Monday into the state’s third boxing fatality since 1980, the death of Baldwin Park boxer Rico Velazquez on Saturday.

Velazquez collapsed Friday night, immediately after he lost his state lightweight championship to David Gonzales of San Jose at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. Velazquez died later of a cerebral hemorrhage.

State athletic commission inspector George Johnson, who was at ringside Saturday night, acknowledged that Velazquez, 22, was losing the bout, but was not taking an unnecessary beating.

One subject sure to be discussed is why California doesn’t require an ambulance at professional boxing events, as is the case at some boxing events in Nevada.

Velazquez collapsed in the ring, seconds after referee Hank Elespuru had stopped the bout and declared Gonzales the winner. The fallen fighter received immediate attention from ringside physician Joseph Calcagno, but Johnson said Monday that there was a long delay--estimating the wait at 20 to 25 minutes--before an ambulance arrived.

The same problem occurred on Sept. 1, 1983, when Kiko Bejines collapsed after a bout at Los Angeles’ Olympic Auditorium. When an ambulance arrived after a long wait, stretcher bearers had to fight their way through a hallway mob scene to reach Bejines’ dressing room.

“One of the first things Dr. Calcagno did Friday night when he got in the ring was to tell someone to call for an ambulance,” Johnson said.

“I’d say it was 15 minutes before a fire truck arrived with paramedics, and 20 to 25 minutes before the ambulance came.

“And when the fire truck and the ambulance did arrive, the paramedics had crowd control problems. We still had the kid down in the ring, and no one wanted to leave.”

Miguel Jara, co-promoter of the bout, estimated the crowd at 900. In Nevada, state law requires an ambulance at any boxing event where anticipated attendance is more than 4,000.

Karen Pointer of Medevac Emergency Medical Service in El Monte said the cost of maintaining a two-person ambulance crew at a 2 1/2-hour boxing show in Los Angeles County would be about $160.

Said Ken Gray: executive officer of the California Athletic Commission: “The subject of ambulances at boxing shows has been discussed often in the past, and I’m sure now the subject will come up again.

“Obviously, if it wasn’t a question of economics, we’d do it in a minute.”

Late Friday night, at San Jose Medical Center, where Velazquez underwent brain surgery, Johnson talked with Elespuru.

“Hank said that when he stopped it in the eighth, ‘The kid jumped all over me. . . . He said he’d been hit much harder than that,’ ” Johnson said.

“During the fight, I was sitting no more than 6 feet away from Velazquez’s corner,” Johnson said. “I heard Hank say after the seventh round, ‘You get hit with any more of those solid shots, and I’ll stop it.’

“The kid came out of his corner for the eighth and for 45 seconds actually took it to Gonzales. I mean, he got in some good punches.

“Then Gonzales started in on Velazquez’s body, like he’d done for the last three rounds. He backed him up into a neutral corner. He hit him under the heart, and Velazquez kind of turned to his left and bent over.

“At that point, I heard Hank say, ‘That’s it!’ and he grabbed Velazquez’s upper right arm with his left hand. I couldn’t hear everything Velazquez said to Hank, but he was upset and I heard him say, ‘I’m OK. No problem.’

“Then Hank said, ‘No, that’s enough for tonight.’

“Velazquez started walking along the ropes toward his corner. He took two, maybe three steps . . . and he just pitched forward on his face.

“Hank rolled him over on his back, took out his mouthpiece, and told his seconds (Jesus Velazquez, his father, was serving as his trainer) to take off his shoes and cut his gloves and wraps off. He put him on oxygen, I’d say, within 20 seconds.”

Then began the long wait for the ambulance.