By Jody Kohn
Francisco “Frankie” Leal, who suffered a knockout loss in the eighth round Saturday night to Raul Hirales in Mexico, died on Tuesday from a brain injury suffered in that contest. He was just 26 years old.
The fight between countymen took place on the undercard of the Omar Chavez-Joachim Alcine bout, and was televised throughout Mexico and the United States. Hirales dominated the action throughout, knocking Leal down in the sixth round with a straight right. Then, in the eighth, he connected with yet another right, sending Leal to the canvas once more. He actually beat the count of the referee, but collapsed once again, forcing the contest to be waved off with 10 seconds left in the round.
Leal was immediately tended to by medical personnel. He was taken from the ring on a stretcher, where he slipped into a coma. He was taken at first to a hospital in Cabo San Lucas, and then transferred to San Diego, where he died.
“This hurts a lot,” said promoter Fernando Beltran whose promotion company put on the card. “We knew that Frankie Leal was a good kid, a great fighter, a warrior in and out of the ring. As a company we took responsibility and tried to save his life as much as humanly possible. Now we are united in the grief felt by his family and his boxing family. We will try to help, whatever is needed.”
There were those who wondered if Leal (20-8-3, 13 KO’s) should have been allowed to compete following a crushing knockout he suffered last year at the hands of Evgeny Gradovich. In that contest he was knocked out in the 10th round, where he was also taken from the ring on a stretcher. He recovered, however, going on to fight five more times before Saturday night.
“It hurts that this happened,” Beltran said. “Our prayers are with his family. We knew that Leal was a fine young man. We will try our best to support his family in this difficult time.”
Perhaps the high point of his career came back in 2009 when he fought for the junior featherweight title in front of his hometown fans in Mexicali against then champion Celestino Caballero. It wasn’t meant to be though, as Caballero scored an eighth round knockout.
