Boxing: Former champion in critical condition after bout

NEW YORK - Former lightweight boxing champion Leavander Johnson remains in critical condition in a Las Vegas hospital from brain injuries suffered in a weekend fight, a hospital spokeswoman said today.

The 35-year-old Johnson underwent emergency brain surgery at University Medical Centre in Las Vegas after losing his International Boxing Federation lightweight title to Mexican Jesus Chavez on Saturday.

The medical centre provides only one-word condition reports on patients but Las Vegas newspapers said earlier in the week he was in a medically induced coma in the hospital's intensive care unit.

Johnson collapsed in his dressing room after the fight was stopped at 38 seconds of the 11th round. He complained of headaches after the fight.

The boxer's father, who serves as his trainer, said he was about to stop the fight when the referee did.

"I didn't realise the full impact of the injuries until the doctor showed me the X-rays," Bill Johnson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sunday.

"I was flat. I was dumbfounded. I went numb. That's my boy. He was fine and fighting for the world title and now here he is just a few minutes later fighting for his life.

"It's hard to put all that together. You know these things happen in this business, but you can't plan for them and you never expect it to happen to you."

- REUTERS