BOSTON (AP) -- A featherweight boxer who collapsed after a 10-round fight was in a coma and in critical condition Sunday following brain surgery. Robert Benson, 26, of Saugus, Mass., who competes under the ring name Bobby Tomasello, had just fought Steve Dotse of Ghana to a 10-round draw Friday night in Boston when he collapsed in his dressing room.
He was taken to New England Medical Center, where he underwent surgery Saturday morning to remove a blood clot, relieve swelling and stop bleeding in his brain.
He has been in a coma since Friday, said Tony Cardinale, Benson's promoter and mentor. "We're just hoping for a miracle now," he said. "He is in very grave condition."
Cardinale said doctors told the family that early in the fight Benson (14-0-1, 8 KOs) was hit with a blow that caused his brain to shift, leading to the rupture of a small blood vessel. Throughout the fight the bleeding continued, until he slipped into a coma.
Benson was pummeled in the late rounds and knocked down in the 10th, but walked himself to his dressing room after the fight. It was there that he began vomiting, and collapsed moments later.
"Apparently it was a pretty freak thing that happened," Cardinale said. "This is very hard for the family. With a beautiful 24-year-old son, this is tough." Benson fights under the same ring name his father used in the 1970s.
This was his first 10-round bout. It was also his first televised fight, shown on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."
