ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights took a tragic turn when welterweight Oscar Diaz collapsed in his corner between the tenth and eleventh rounds. At the time Diaz was losing the fight to Delvin Rodriguez but did not appear to be a grave condition. Even though his right eye had nearly swollen shut Diaz was still boxing well and the fight looked as if it was going the distance.

Between rounds the referee asked Diaz how many fingers he was holding. Diaz responded correctly and stood up. The ref again asked him if he was OK. At that point Diaz grabbed his head, screamed in pain, and collapsed to the ground. The medical staff quickly placed Diaz onto a stretcher, administered oxygen, and took the fighter to the hospital where brain surgery was to be performed.

I’m no doctor but it looked like Diaz had a stroke. The drama was as disturbing and painful as any sporting event I’ve ever seen on television. I am not going to post video. Today Oscar Diaz in our thoughts and prayers and we hope he can recover from this horrible turn of events. Good luck Oscar.

Last night on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights, Ring Magazine’s #9 ranked light heavyweight Chris Henry (22-1) bounced back from his somewhat controversial April decision loss to Adrian Diaconu (c’mon, the fight was in Romania, what did he expect?) with a sixth round TKO of Detroit’s Rubin Williams (29-5-1).

Last night’s fight was fought at cruiserweight although both fighters came in well under that class’ 200-pound limit. But even at 181 pounds Henry showed some impressive power and dominating strength against Williams. Williams may be winless in his last four fight but he has faced impressive competition. His last two losses had been to super middleweight contenders Allan Green and Andre Ward.

Henry dominated him from the outset easily winning all five rounds before his sixth round TKO which you can view below:

Yesterday’s ESPN2 fight card originated from an unlikely place: Butler, Pennsylvania, a town of 15,000 located 40 miles north of Pittsburgh. It’s the hometown of heavyweight contender Brian Minto. Minto, 33, played football for the Butler High Golden Tornados and must have competed there with one-time NFL player Scott Milanovich.

Minto predictably dismantled Philadelphia-native John Poore dropping him three times in the first round. There is a full video of the fight below. But is Minto a viable heavyweight candidate? Was ESPN’s graphic correct; is he really the fifth best American heavyweight?

This was ESPN’s list:
1. Tony Thompson 31-1-0 (19) - boxrec.com U.S. Rank: 1
2. Chris Arreola 24-0-0 (21) - boxrec.com U.S. Rank: 8
3. Kevin Johnson 19-0-1 (6) - boxrec.com U.S. Rank: 9
4. Jason Estrada 13-1-0 (3) - boxrec.com U.S. Rank: 13
5. Brian Minto 31-2-0 (20) - boxrec.com U.S. Rank: 14

Who were Teddy and Joe forgetting? Well, ESPN’s Dan Rafael has John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman ranked #6 and #9 in his overall rankings; they’d be his #1 and #2 U.S. heavys. The other names in between - Eddie Chambers, Monte Barrett, Lamon Brewster, Calvin Brock, Demetrice King, Travis Walker, Chazz Witherspoon - have all fought better competition than Minto. But none have any fight fan clamoring towards the ticket booth.

Right now Minto doesn’t belong in the Top 5. He needs to start fighting the above names to prove himself. Then and only then can he be considered a Top 5 American Heavyweight.

Don’t get me wrong, it was great seeing a world-class fighter like lightweight Julio Diaz on free TV. Thank you ESPN2 and Wednesday Night Fights. His clinical dismantling of previously undefeated and evidently stone-footed David Torres, however, didn’t make for exciting TV. The fight’s venue…that’s another story.

For the fifth year in a row ESPN2 filmed a boxing card at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion and there was plenty of beautiful sights to see in between rows. The ESPN announcing team of Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas even commented on the many requests they had for press credentials.

Speaking of Teddy, we’ve really enjoyed the humor in his last few pre-match fight plans but none have delighted him more than the Julio Diaz feature that featured “Hugh Hefner’s youngest girlfriend” Kendra Wilkinson. If you missed it, check out Teddy’s wandering eyes and bad puns below. Btw, don’t listen to Kendra’s prognosticating advice. She’s no Jimmy the Greek. And thank heavens for that!

Last night’s Seminole Warriors Knockout Kings card on ESPN2 lived up to its name. All four fights broadcast featured vicious knockouts. We’re embedding the full youtube of Colombian southpaw Juan Urango’s startling 4th round right hand cannon to Carlos Wilfredo Vilches. Be alert, the punch happens quickly. We wonder: Will Vilches ever get up?

But Urango’s wasn’t the only incredible KO. The night started with New York middleweight “Mean Joe” Greene who did indeed kick Kenyan Joshua Okine’s ass. It took him a little longer than expected but his 9th round KO was a doozy. Click on www.joegreenewillkickyourass.com for a full recap. They may even have video posted.

Sporting trunks that may have been the world’s largest Venezuelan flag, heavyweight Wilmer Vazquez pummeled American Rodney Wallace into a painful 3rd round submission. The power of Vazquez body blows resonated the entire distance from the south Florida Hard Rock Live Arena to my Harrisburg, Pa. home.

The KO’s quickened the fight card’s pace and allowed ESPN2 to show hometown Hollywood, Fla. boxer David Estrada devastating 2nd round KO of Alexander Pacheco Quiroz. Again, what a knockout. We will look for video and keep you posted.

Two big hitting southpaws, Brooklyn’s “Mean” Joe Greene and Colombia’s Juan “The Iron Twin” Urango, highlight tonight’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida card which will be broadcast on as ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights.

The 27-year-old light welterweight Urango’s (19-1-1) bout against Argentine Carlos Wilfredo Vilches (53-7-2) is the headliner. Juan’s biggest fight came two years ago when he lost to underperforming Manchester City supporter Ricky Hatton by a wide margin. He has regrouped since then defeating a pair of designated punching bags. Tonight’s fight shouldn’t be much different.

We here at jabandgrabble.com are much more excited to see the flashy 22-year-old middleweight New Yorker Greene in action. Greene can be seen in the embedded video, his last Seminole Hard Rock fight, just demolishing fellow southpaw Darryl Salmon. The knockout comes with five seconds left in the first round accompanied by the Russian broadcasting team uttering an appropriate oy-yi-yi-yi-yi. Salmon stays down for a good minute, dazed and unsure. Salmon has not fought since.

Greene has, returning with two decisive wins (one knockout) in his hometown. His return to south Florida isn’t without some danger. His opponent Ghanian Joshua Okine is a last minute card replacement and a complete unknown. Boxrec.com has him at 18-3-1 while the Seminole Casino has him at 36-7-1l his real record is probably somewhere in between. All but two of his official bouts have taken place on African soil.

But if his recent stellar form is any indication Greene will live up his adoring blog’s name: www.joegreenewillkickyourass.com.