Virginia report revisits Prichard Colón’s 2015 fight with Williams

Prichard Colón’s only professional defeat remains a ninth-round disqualification against Terrel Williams, but a Virginia review later found no regulatory violation. The fight took place on October 17, 2015, at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax and ended after Colón’s corner removed his gloves before the scheduled final round.

Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation opened its own examination because of the severity of Colón’s brain injury, even though no complaint had been filed. The review was completed in a ten-page report dated March 11, 2016, and was revisited after Colón died at the age of 33, almost 11 years after the bout.

Investigators assessed the fighters’ licences, medical records, contracts, questionnaires, post-fight examinations and official scorecards. They also spoke to referee Joe Cooper, the three judges, three doctors, Williams and boxing officials, while reviewing the entire contest several times.

The report did not find sufficient grounds to penalise anyone under Virginia’s jurisdiction. It found no definite proof that Cooper or a ringside doctor had breached the relevant rules, although the review questioned how the referee managed the action. David Holland, then Virginia’s boxing programme executive director, felt Cooper should have intervened more firmly when separating the fighters.

The document also recorded possible fouls during the first four rounds, including punches to Colón’s head and neck that were not called. Cooper took two points from Colón for an intentional low blow in the fifth round. In the seventh, Williams landed an intentional punch behind the head that knocked Colón down; the foul was recognised, but only one point was deducted.

Virginia noted that Colón’s response appeared at least as serious as Williams’ reaction to the low blow and said a second point could reasonably have been taken from Williams. After nine rounds, Dorothea Perry scored Colón ahead 85-84, while Brian Costello had Williams leading 85-84 and Mark D’Attilio favoured Williams 88-81. A further Williams deduction would have left the cards split between one lead for each boxer and one tie.

The scoring, however, did not resolve the worsening situation in the ring. Williams dropped Colón twice in the ninth, and Colón’s corner started removing his gloves before the last round. When Colón could not answer the bell, Cooper disqualified him. Virginia later rejected a 2025 request to change the result to a no-contest, saying its review found no legal basis for doing so.