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Valley promoter tries to cope with death of 19-year-old Michigan boxer
By BRIAN DZENIS
YOUNGSTOWN
Jack Loew doesn’t hold anyone responsible for the death of 19-year-old boxer Hamzah Ajahmi.
Still, the longtime boxing promoter was both distraught and at times at a loss for words Wednesday as he answered questions during a news conference and tried to describe what’s next for him and his sport in the Mahoning Valley.
“[Expletive] everybody that wants to blame things on people,” Loew said. “This is a young man [who] died.”
Ajahmi, of Dearborn, Mich., made his professional boxing debut Saturday at Loew’s “Season’s Beatings” pro-am against Warren’s Anthony Taylor. After going three rounds, he went to his knee after the fourth round without being hit and then collapsed. He died Tuesday at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.
Paramedics carried Ajahmi out of the ring. He underwent brain surgery during the weekend before he died.
Speaking at his Southside Boxing Club on Market Street, the normally loquacious Loew kept things brief. He said he believed the proper safety precautions were followed and the necessary medical and training staff was in place.
“It could have been my fighter,” Loew said. “It could have been my son – he’s boxed. It could have been anybody.”
Loew also is concerned about Taylor’s well-being. He made his professional debut against Ajahmi.
Taylor visited Ajahmi in the St. Elizabeth intensive-care unit and spoke with his father.
“[Ajahmi’s father] told Anthony, ‘My son would want you to continue on,’” Loew said. “He told him, ‘I want you to continue on, and God bless you and your career. It was not your fault.’”
Loew also was prone to some strong language as he met with reporters.
“Does it answer how Anthony is feeling? He feels like [expletive],” Loew said. “And if it answers how I’m feeling, I feel like [expletive]. My heart hurts — this is terrible.”
If there is anyone who can reach Taylor and identify with what he’s going through, it’s Youngstown boxing legend Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.
In Mancini’s 1982 defense of his World Boxing Association lightweight title against Duk Koo Kim in Las Vegas, the Korean fighter died from brain injuries sustained in the 14-round fight.
Mancini battled depression but returned to the ring after a few months off and continued his boxing career for another decade.
Loew said Mancini has tried to connect with Taylor.
“Somebody needs to talk to Anthony. It’s his first fight, and he’s supposed to enjoy it,” Loew said. “He’s supposed to enjoy the victory. It was such an evenly matched fight that had such a tragic ending.”
Taylor did not attend the news conference, and Loew said he will only do interviews after speaking with Mancini. Loew said he had not heard from Ajahmi’s camp in Michigan since he died.
But even if he could, he isn’t sure what he would say.
“I want to give his family some time,” Loew said. “What can I do for him? What the [expletive] can I do for [his father]? Give him his son back? Nope.”
Loew also isn’t sure when he will put on another boxing show. He had one planned for February but has suspended the competition.
“Right now, the furthest thing from my mind is planning a show,” Loew said. “I know my life needs to go on and boxing needs to go on in this area.”
When reporters questioned Loew on boxing’s safety in light of the recent awareness of concussions in sports, Loew did not call for any changes to the sport that’s defined his life.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’ve taken one kid to the hospital – he got hit on the head with an elbow,” Loew said. “I’ve coached Little League and freshman football and we took numerous kids to the hospital, broken ankles and wrists, concussions.
“Every sport has its injuries, and we’re not on top of the list for deaths in sports. It just had to happen on our watch at my show.”
The last pro boxer to die after a match in the United States was Francisco “Frankie” Leal in 2013 during a fight against Raul Hirales. The last death by injuries in a combat sport in Ohio was 27-year-old Steven Burress in 2005 after a Mixed Martial Arts fight.
“It’s nothing about whose fault it is,” Loew said. “It was a tragic incident that happened on my show to a 19-year-old kid.”