Marine Boxer Suffers Head Injury in Match, Is in Critical Condition

A Marine Corps boxer is in critical but stable condition at the Navy Hospital in Balboa Park after suffering a head injury during the Armed Forces Boxing Championships, it was reported Tuesday.

Cpl. Rickey Uzzel, 22, was taken to the hospital Thursday night after he was knocked down during a light-middleweight championship bout against the Army’s James Crisp, said Julie Swan, a civilian public affairs officer at the 32nd Street Naval Station, where the bout was held.

Uzzel, of Austin, Tex., is under sedation in the hospital’s intensive care unit, said Lt. Pat Kelly, a hospital spokesman.

The injury is the second boxing incident involving a Marine in the past seven months. On Aug. 2, Paul Resce Jr., an 18-year-old recruit, was knocked unconscious during an interplatoon boxing match at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Resce died at Navy Hospital five days later.

Uzzel stood up after taking a hard right from Crisp 23 seconds into the second round of his fight, but the referee stopped the bout after examining Uzzel, Swan said. Two doctors present at ringside examined Uzzel and ordered him transferred to the hospital.

“He was conscious and on his feet,” Swan said. “He was placed on a stretcher and taken out of the ring.”

But Kelly said that Uzzel was unconscious when he arrived at the hospital. The extent of damage to his brain has not been determined.