Charles Conwell is trying to look forward, not backward. And no one can blame him in light of what happened a year ago Monday.
That’s when Conwell fought Patrick Day on the Oleksandr Usyk-Chazz Witherspoon card at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Conwell put Day down three times, the last time by a three-punch combination that rendered Day unconscious.
He was removed from the ring on a stretcher and taken to a hospital, where he had brain surgery in an emergency procedure and lapsed into a coma. He never regained consciousness, dying four days later.
Conwell has dealt with the tragedy as best he can, leaning on those close to him and maintaining his routines in an effort to move forward.
“I try to stay positive, to be around positive energy, positive vibes,” he told Boxing Junkie. “I’ll never be able to forget it, it will always be in the back of my mind. I just have to stay positive, try to be a good person and focus on the task at hand.”
I asked Conwell a number of questions about the tragedy and how he has been able to cope. He said as politely as possible multiple times that he isn’t comfortable discussing it in depth, even with family members and close friends.
He said another fighter whose punches led to the death of an opponent – he didn’t say who it was – reached out to him but, he said, he wasn’t ready to talk.
“People don’t understand it, I don’t like to go too deep,” he said.
Thus, he answered my questions as openly as he could.
The talented 2016 Olympian, who is only 22 and has a bright future in the sport, said he was so overwhelmed in the wake of Day’s death that he considered retirement.
“I was in a real bad place mentally,” he said.
In time, however, he was able to begin the process of resuming his life as he knew it. He went back to training not long after the Day fight and returned to the ring on Feb. 8, stopping journeyman Ramses Agaton at the Civic Center in Hammond, Indiana.
And he’s scheduled to fight Wendy Toussaint this Wednesday at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.
Day said the Agaton fight helped in the healing process.
“That fight made me feel better,” he said. “It helped me get past what happened. I think it answered questions other people had more than me, though. I guess they saw it in a negative way. They thought I’d be gun shy or something.
“To me, it felt like a fight. … I tried to keep it like a regular fight, keep things simple, keep things easy for myself.”
He said he felt like the same boxer in that fight that he was before the bout with Day but would leave that assessment to others. And he is feeling like himself emotionally, although he stressed that he remains a work in progress in that regard.
He even allows himself to be openly excited about the future again.
Toussaint (12-0, 5 KOs) probably isn’t a significant threat to a fighter of Conwell’s pedigree but he’s a solid opponent, one who is as hungry as he is. Conwell has worked hard in preparation for the fight.
If things go well, he expects to take another step up in opposition and hopes to take part in a title eliminator – or another fight at that level – before the end of next year. Then comes what every young fighter dreams of: a chance to fight for a world title.
And, in terms of his legacy, he hopes he’ll be remembered one day more for what he accomplishes in the ring than the horrible events of a year ago.
“I hope the world will see my skill, see what I do in the ring,” he said. “Being remembered as a great champion is more important to me than anything else.”
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