(EMAILWIRE.COM, June 05, 2008 ) Brighton, MI--Juan’s mother, Rosemary Contreras, wasn’t there to witness the action. She preferred not to watch Juan’s fights because she couldn’t bare the sight of her baby boy getting hit. It took a year for her to finally give in and allow Juan to join the sport. Of course she could never have predicted that this match would turn into his fight for life.

This was only his second amateur match. He had won his first bout just two weeks earlier in St. Clair Shores. The referee in that match had to stop the fight as young Contreras landed blow after blow to his opponent. Rosemary says that Juan was concerned that he might have hurt the other boy.

After all, that is the nature of the sport and regardless of whether the fighters are 12 year old amateurs or heavyweight champions there is a serious risk of injury. Critics may use what happened to Juan as an example of why they consider boxing to too dangerous. Nevertheless, Juan aspired to gain the same stature as his hero, Oscar De La Hoya.

“Ding” round three commenced with Juan’s challenger on a mission to make up for the previous round he had lost. He landed a flurry of punches to Juan’s face and head. Juan was in trouble and couldn’t recover. The referee was forced to stop the attack with a standing 8 count. Initially there was no sign of serious injury until Juan’s knees buckled. He collapsed into the referees arms, by then Juan’s coach, Ali Easly of Crow Boxing was at his side.

They sat Juan on his corner stool to let the ringside doctor examine him. It must have been apparent that something was wrong because he immediately sent for an ambulance to take Juan to Bronson Methodist Hospital in nearby Kalamazoo. By the time he arrived he was unconscious and unresponsive due to a subdural hemotoma, more commonly referred to as a brain bleed. This is a common effect of serious head injury which causes pressure to build and cut off oxygen from the brain.

Doctors performed surgery, removing a fragment of skull in order to allow the blood to drain but Juan still has not recovered. He now lays in a coma at CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. Rosemary, Jose, Jose jr. and Crystal stay by his side faithfully waiting for him to wake up. His hospital room is adorned with get well cards from friends and neighbors who are praying for his speedy recovery.

But there’s a miracle in this sad story, a sign of hope. The Chairman of the Michigan Boxing Commission, Al Low, recently paid a visit to Juan to tell him and his mother that there were a lot of people praying for him and wanted to see him back in the Gym working out again. After speaking with Mrs. Contreras, Al learned that Juan’s favorite boxer is Oscar De La Hoya.

Al told Juan that he was just at a press conference with Oscar and what a great man he is. Just then Juan moved forward in his special chair and his mom caught him and moved him back. She had such a shocked look on her face; she explained to Al that that was his first movement in over sixty days. Al then told Juan he believed he could get Oscar to talk with him but Oscar would want to know if he still knew how to make a fist. As Al asked that question, Juan raised both his arms and fists up in the air as though he was going to box.

Words can’t explain how it felt to see boy so immobilized respond with such strength and vigor. So Al asked one more thing of Juan. He told him to squeeze his hand so he could tell Oscar how strong he was. Juan responded by grabbing his hand with a firm grip like a grown man. Al pealed his hand off to place it on his moms arm and he squeezed so hard it made her yell out.

Since that day Al has been working to organize a fundraiser in order to support Juan’s recovery. He is asking for anyone with sympathy and compassion in their heart to contribute to this effort. He is sponsoring an amateur boxing show on June 14th at the Mt. Brighton Ski Lodge. Call 248-390-1873 for Ticket Info.

Al Lowe’s promotion company is accepting donations on behalf of Juan and the Contreras family. Make checks or money orders payable to Big Al’s Promotions; send to 9742 Tioga Trail; Pinckney, Michigan 48169.

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