Boxing author Mike Silver, author of "When In Doubt, Stop The Bout," had this to say about the tragic death of Prichard Colon: "On Wednesday August 12th. Puerto Rican boxer Prichard Colón, 33, died eleven years after suffering a severe brain injury in a professional boxing match. Add this sad chapter to the scores of other preventable boxing tragedies caused by incompetent referees, poorly trained ringside physicians, and clueless and uncaring boxing officials. The bout was halted after the ninth round. Colon collapsed in the dressing room and underwent emergency brain surgery for a subdural hematoma and remained in a coma for 221 days. He was left unable to communicate verbally and remained in a vegetative state, cared for by his family until his death.

"Last week, after reading newspaper accounts of the fight, I wanted to scream. Incredibly, during the nine rounds the fight lasted, the grossly incompetent referee allowed Colon’s opponent to land a total of 75 illegal rabbit punches to the base of Colon’s skull. Rabbit punches are illegal because they are capable of causing severe injury or death. Colon complained numerous times to the referee but only two warnings were issued  to his opponent. Both warnings were ignored. By round seven Colon’s balance was unsteady. The constant blows to the back of his head were taking effect. In between rounds Colon told the ringside physician that he felt dizzy and the back of his head hurt. Yet the doctor inexplicably allowed the bout to continue. Of course, allowing a fighter to land 75 illegal rabbit punches without disqualifying him after the third or fourth time is an extreme example of spectacular incompetence by the referee. A competent referee must be cognizant of the danger of rabbit punches but even today many are still too slow to disqualify the offending boxer after a first warning.

"As I state in my recently published book, “When in Doubt, Stop the Bout – A Revolutionary Approach to Boxing Safety and Reform” there should be zero tolerance for rabbit punches. The referee must be quick to disqualify the fighter after the first rabbit punch. A warning not to hit the back of the head is supposed to be standard instructions to both fighters by the referee just before the bout begins. Most referees don’t even mention it. Colon had barely 50 rounds of pro experience before his final bout.

"At that stage of his career, he should not have been allowed to engage in a bout beyond six rounds until he had accumulated at least 60 or more rounds of professional experience. It is simply another useful safety precaution that should be standard and one of the dozens of innovative safety protocols I outline in my book. But irrespective of the number of rounds, it was the behavior of the referee that was the main cause of the preventable brain damage inflicted upon a promising young professional. Every safety net that was supposed to protect the boxer—the referee, ringside physician, boxing officials, and even his own cornermen—failed to protect Pritchard Colon. The family of Prichard Colón filed a $50 million lawsuit against ringside physician Dr. Richard Ashby and event promoters following his catastrophic 2015 brain injury. The suit alleges medical malpractice for allowing Colón to continue fighting after reporting dizziness and head pain from illegal blows. The suit is still unresolved. I can’t say it enough times: In light of professional boxing’s continued absence of uniform standards, proper education for referees and ringside physicians, and serious accountability when things go wrong, it should be incumbent by everyone in boxing to read and study When in Doubt, Stop the Bout. If you gain just one important idea from this book it can make a difference."