I already responded to this in de Magomed thread, but I think it's the wrong way to go for the family. Cause seriously, how many people were thinking about stopping the fight? And that's merely the referee's, the corner and the doctor's job, not the promoter's.
I couldn't feel for Mago's family any more than I do, and I hope they receive some form of compensation, but it's down to the ringside Doctor (accredited by the appropriate governing body - in this case the NYSAC), the ref or the fighters corner to stop the fight. If promoters were allowed to stop fights we'd be in a pretty mess. There is an argument that Mago should have been examined more thoroughly post fight, but I think that's more the responsibility of the NYSAC rather than K2 - also that he should have been provided with transport to a hospital (this might fall under K2s remit, but MSG or more likely the NYSAC are really the ones responsible for fighter safety in their jurisdiction).
Stopping the fight is the wrong way to go, but I hear that there was only one ambulance on call. He shouldnt have been cabbed to the hospital once he was ill... Honestly K2 should have had 2 ambulances on call. I hope they get a decent settlement. I like K2, but I think they goofed up a bit with this. As long as Magomed family is reasonable I hope they get something. Wlad has plenty of money anyhow. Just settle for promoter cut of next GGG fight or something and call it a day. Mago just trying to figure out how to get money to live, hopefully K2 throws them a bone since they could have in fact been setup/performed better. Just not for not stopping the fight... as Koba says, if it was on promoters to stop fights that would just be a huge mess.
Mago's corner, the referee or the doctor should've stopped it. John David Jackson said the interpretor for Mago never informed him that Mago's hand and nose/or cheek bone were broken and that he would've stopped the fight had he known. The section where he talks about Mago starts at the 7:54 mark. Apparently Mago only weighs 160 lbs now. :-( [yt]t0fW1FETIHg[/yt]
The adage safety first should take precedent. With two ambulances present before the remaining main event bout at Madison Square Garden, NYSAC inspector assigned Matt Farrago was unable to order one of them be used by Magomed Abdusalamov when the fighters urine showed blood after his 10 round heavyweight bout. The time factor, getting an injured fighter to the hospital in time for immediate medical treatment, even notifying hospitals before the event, and designating a nearby hospital emergency room to be on standby in the event a boxing event emergency does occur with an injured fighter or other, are all additional factors which need to be written into the rule as well to save lives.
With no health insurance, it's basically the only option left to pay hospital bills. And since the lawyer will take this on a contingency fee basis (get's paid only if he wins), there's little downside for the family. If the US had universal health care, most of these suits would never be brought....
Jackson is a liar, how the hell can you not see that massive growth on his left cheek and after the first round Magomed was rubbing at it and looking at it. I don't care how strong fighters were in the old days and that many of them fought with broken jaws and concussions, there's no shame in losing a fight or quitting because of a problem but of course the fighters who do quit get laughed at, criticized and called a sissy but none of them know what it is to be fighting in a ring. W When a fighter complains of massive pain or you see that there's obviously something wrong you as a head trainer should say " F this I'm stopping the fight, I don't care what happens. " All of these fans and everybody else in the boxing business who laughs or insults fighters are a bunch of dbags. There's a difference between not liking a fighter because of who he is and how he acts but calling a fighter a coward or quitter is pathetic. That's why you have a lot of fellow fighters who keep their mouth shut when something happens to other fighters because they know what it is to box and how terrifying it is.
I don't say they shouldn't sue, I'm saying they should sue the right persons/organisation responsible for the things that went wrong that night. If K2 was responsible for only one ambulance being on call, then rightly so, but not about them stopping the fight, not for the medicals/corner/referee not doing their job properly etc.
Its a really gray area. Technically the promoter of record is responsible for having an ambulance waiting on call at the venue at all times. K2 had that but only one if I recall correctly. However it is not their responsibility to determine when the ambulance gets used. The sticky thing, is that with only one available and especially since the main event had started when Mago started falling ill, that means the GGG-Stevens fight would have had to have been stopped in progress until another ambulance could have been obtained which can take a while at that hour in NYC. Obviously the NYSAC would be reluctant to do this unless they were certain of an emergency. One might have to wonder if this affected their judgement in their evaluation of the need for an ambulance for Mago. So its not unreasonable that a theory of tort could be crafted where the action or inaction of the promoter of record, K2 in this case, resulted in harm to Mago. Legally, its not clear cut but in the real world due to the injuries a jury might be persuaded. Personally I think they should have just paid the extra money and had two waiting just in case - all big events should. Because halting or delaying the main event causes havok for everyone, including HBO who is paying out the nose for satellite transmission so you know there is going to be pressure on the docs to not use the ambulance for undercards unless absolutely necessary. That being said, I would find it reasonable if K2 settled with the family for some amount. They arent directly at fault, but could have done a better job.
I'm somewhat sceptical of Jackson's claims too. I haven't been able to bring myself to re-watch the fight since the tragedy but I remember seeing the look of discomfort and concern etched Mago's face as he sat on his stool during one of the intervals between rounds and that was during the early stages of the fight too. I swear I recall seeing a bit of commotion in the corner at one point too, where again Mago looked really concerned about his injuries.
Maybe Magomed should have focused more on blocking punches. Just sayin'... It's ridiculous to sue the promoter. Are they the corner or the ring doctor? I didn't think so. This is very lame of the Abdusalamov's to do, and I hope they earn nothing extra from this law suit.