Fraza reinjures shoulder!

28/09/2005

Fraza reinjures shoulder!

PRESS RELEASE - After many weeks of training in preparation for an October 15, 2005 showdown with Alfonso Gomez, Jeff Fraza has been forced to pull out of the fight with a severe shoulder injury. Fraza and Gomez were both part of The Contender, a boxing reality series, and the bout was to be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles as a co-main event to the rematch of
Sergio Mora and Peter Manfredo. Jeff's father and manager, Norm, told RING 99 that his son originally injured his shoulder during his win over fellow "Contender', Brent Cooper  back in May of this year. After some rest and treatment the shoulder seemed to be 100%. However, last week Fraza was sparring and was stopped in his tracks with pain as the injury returned when Fraza was throwing a punch.

Fraza's doctor has scheduled an MRI for Jeff now that the swelling has gone down. "To put it mildly, I'm disappointed", said Jeff. "I've been training very hard and everything was going perfect. I hadn't felt so good during a training camp like this one, ever. [Ex-junior welterweight contender Micky Ward] and I were working on a lot of things and everything seemed to be right on schedule and then this. I thought about trying to continue and work through the pain but after some discussions with my doctor and my dad, we decided to pull out and not risk a permenant injury" Jeff concluded. This was not the first time Fraza suffered health problems. He came down with chicken pox during the taping of the show, which originally aired on NBC but has now moved to ESPN for the upcoming second series.

The folks running the Contender agreed with Team Fraza and although disappointed, the show's executives reportedly told Jeff he is still with The Contender Family and will be scheduled in a future show as soon as he is healthy.  Jeff personally telephoned Alfonso and told him the bad news. He too was disappointed but being the gentleman he is, Gomez wished Jeff a speedy recovery. Source: Ring 99