Joseph Serrano
Encyclopedia
Joseph Serrano is a Puerto Rican
who was an amateur boxing
star.
Serrano had an award winning career as an amateur. A member of the Bairoa Gym
boxing team, he met, among others, Miguel Cotto
during his career as an amateur boxer. Cotto and Serrano forged a friendship as they belonged to the same team.
Serrano joined the Puerto Rican
Olympic
boxing team that participated in Athens. He was widely expected to, at least, compete for a spot in the final rounds of his division, but he lost in the first round of the competition. As a matter of a fact, Alex de Jesús
has been the only boxer from Puerto Rico to win an Olympic fight since 1996. He qualified for the Olympic Games by ending up in second place at the 1st AIBA American 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament
in Tijuana, Mexico.
Serrano then awaited a relatively long time to make a decision as far as to which promoter he would sign with as a professional fighter, but he finally decided to sign with Bob Arum
and Arum's Top Rank
company. By the time he signed his contract, he had become the last 2004 Olympic boxer from Puerto Rico to turn professional.
Serrano made what was his first, and probably will be his only, professional bout on February 26, 2005, as part of the undercard where Cotto knocked out DeMarcus Corley
. Serrano beat William Vega by a first round knockout
that day.
On March 2, Serrano was shot to the head, leg and shoulder on the parking lot at Bairoa Gym, after completing his daily training
routine. He was injured critically, and, because the bullet to his head landed inside his brain
, he had to undergo emergency surgery
. Serrano was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital
. A person has been identified as a suspect: the former boyfriend of a woman that Serrano is friends with. Soon after the shooting, other motives, such as a drug deal gone wrong, for example, were ruled out by police
because Serrano is known to be a Christian
without any ties with problematic individuals.
Whether Serrano will go on boxing as a professional or not remains to be seen, but, it is highly questionable that he will, because of the type of injury that the gunshot to the head produced: according to doctors, he had a brain hemorrage, similar to those that have led some boxers to die after a fight. Because of this, it would be an educated guess to say that the injury will prevent him to fight on in a future. Serrano was in a coma
.
In what can be called an irony, Serrano had declared, one day before his fight with Vega, that the only thing he ever wanted to be since he was a little kid, was a professional boxer.
Later on, a spokesman for Serrano's family announced that Serrano had shown slight improvement. According to the spokesman's report, Serrano's intracraneal pressure had been stabilized at 25 degrees of heat (10 degrees or less are considered normal, 40 degrees or more are considered very dangerous in the human brain).
On the weekend that followed, his intracraneal pressure lowered to twelve, giving doctors reason to believe that he would be able to recuperate from the attack on him. The bullet on his brain was taken out after a complicated second operation to that area of his body, leading to the improvement in intracraneal pressure.
While Serrano continued recuperating, on March 15, a still unnamed suspect was arrested and jailed without bond, because the case's judge
considered him too dangerous to be left outside jail
.
Serrano eventually recuperated and left the hospital, returning to the Bairoa Gym as a special helper for Cotto during Cotto's training process for his title defense against Mohammed Abdullaev.
The family moved to Pennsylvania to continue with medical treatment for Joseph.
Jonathan Huertas Claudio was sentenced to 15 years probatory for paying $2,000 to Jorge Davila, who shot Joseph. Davila was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 11 years probatory.
Huertas Claudio's probatory may be revoked since he was caught DUI on December last year and police pressed charges for beating his girlfriend in August 2007.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
who was an amateur boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
star.
Serrano had an award winning career as an amateur. A member of the Bairoa Gym
Bairoa Gym
Bairoa Gym is a boxing gym located in the Bairoa barrio area of Caguas, Puerto Rico.El gimnasio Bairoa, as it is known in Spanish, is a famous boxing gym in Puerto Rico because of the list of world champions and top contenders who have trained there. World champions who have used this facility...
boxing team, he met, among others, Miguel Cotto
Miguel Cotto
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and the reigning WBA light middleweight champion. He is the younger brother of contender Jose Miguel Cotto and cousin of Abner Cotto...
during his career as an amateur boxer. Cotto and Serrano forged a friendship as they belonged to the same team.
Serrano joined the Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
boxing team that participated in Athens. He was widely expected to, at least, compete for a spot in the final rounds of his division, but he lost in the first round of the competition. As a matter of a fact, Alex de Jesús
Alex de Jesús
Alex de Jesús is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur de Jesús representated the island of Puerto Rico in international events, including the 2003 Pan American Games, 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games and the 2004 Summer Olympics...
has been the only boxer from Puerto Rico to win an Olympic fight since 1996. He qualified for the Olympic Games by ending up in second place at the 1st AIBA American 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament
1st AIBA American 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The 1st AIBA American 2004 Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament was held in Tijuana, Mexico from March 12 to March 20, 2004. It was the first chance for amateur boxers from North-, Central- and South America to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics after the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo,...
in Tijuana, Mexico.
Serrano then awaited a relatively long time to make a decision as far as to which promoter he would sign with as a professional fighter, but he finally decided to sign with Bob Arum
Bob Arum
Robert "Bob" Arum is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. He also worked for the US Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York in the tax division....
and Arum's Top Rank
Top Rank Boxing
Top Rank, Inc. is a Las Vegas based boxing promotion company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973. Since its founding, the company has promoted several world class fighters, such as Muhammad Ali, JI Penalver, Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Durán, Joe Frazier,...
company. By the time he signed his contract, he had become the last 2004 Olympic boxer from Puerto Rico to turn professional.
Serrano made what was his first, and probably will be his only, professional bout on February 26, 2005, as part of the undercard where Cotto knocked out DeMarcus Corley
Cotto vs. Corley
The Cotto vs. Corley fight was a bout held in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, on February 26, 2005. It was for Miguel Cotto's WBO world Jr. Welterweight title, and it pitted him against former world champion Demarcus Corley....
. Serrano beat William Vega by a first round knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
that day.
On March 2, Serrano was shot to the head, leg and shoulder on the parking lot at Bairoa Gym, after completing his daily training
Boxing training
Boxing training is the training method that boxers use in order to get more fit for their sport. This training method is often cited by medical doctors, boxing trainers, and writers as one of the most spartan forms of sports training.- Training :...
routine. He was injured critically, and, because the bullet to his head landed inside his brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, he had to undergo emergency surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. Serrano was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
. A person has been identified as a suspect: the former boyfriend of a woman that Serrano is friends with. Soon after the shooting, other motives, such as a drug deal gone wrong, for example, were ruled out by police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
because Serrano is known to be a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
without any ties with problematic individuals.
Whether Serrano will go on boxing as a professional or not remains to be seen, but, it is highly questionable that he will, because of the type of injury that the gunshot to the head produced: according to doctors, he had a brain hemorrage, similar to those that have led some boxers to die after a fight. Because of this, it would be an educated guess to say that the injury will prevent him to fight on in a future. Serrano was in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
.
In what can be called an irony, Serrano had declared, one day before his fight with Vega, that the only thing he ever wanted to be since he was a little kid, was a professional boxer.
Later on, a spokesman for Serrano's family announced that Serrano had shown slight improvement. According to the spokesman's report, Serrano's intracraneal pressure had been stabilized at 25 degrees of heat (10 degrees or less are considered normal, 40 degrees or more are considered very dangerous in the human brain).
On the weekend that followed, his intracraneal pressure lowered to twelve, giving doctors reason to believe that he would be able to recuperate from the attack on him. The bullet on his brain was taken out after a complicated second operation to that area of his body, leading to the improvement in intracraneal pressure.
While Serrano continued recuperating, on March 15, a still unnamed suspect was arrested and jailed without bond, because the case's judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
considered him too dangerous to be left outside jail
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
.
Serrano eventually recuperated and left the hospital, returning to the Bairoa Gym as a special helper for Cotto during Cotto's training process for his title defense against Mohammed Abdullaev.
The family moved to Pennsylvania to continue with medical treatment for Joseph.
Jonathan Huertas Claudio was sentenced to 15 years probatory for paying $2,000 to Jorge Davila, who shot Joseph. Davila was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 11 years probatory.
Huertas Claudio's probatory may be revoked since he was caught DUI on December last year and police pressed charges for beating his girlfriend in August 2007.