BOBBY CZYZ RETURNS FROM THE DEAD…TWICE

By Michael Swann

Regular readers may recall our three part series on the life and career of Bobby Czyz that ran in this column a couple of months ago. As we concluded our sessions of interviews, Bobby told me that he was going to be traveling to South Carolina that week for a ring announcing gig that week.

Interviewing Czyz was a pleasure. He was full of anecdotes and war stories, but most importantly, I was impressed with the degree of candor that he expressed during our talks, often baring open his soul when discussing painful issues in his often tragic life. I was convinced that his story would someday find its way to the big screen and I told him that I would keep in touch.

On April 10, part three of our series ran on this site. I received a number of emails from his fans and past acquaintances, so I wrote him the following week to let him know. Bobby never wrote back to me, nor could he be reached by phone.

What I didn’t know was that on April 13 Bobby returned home from South Carolina, and was involved in a horrific, fiery automobile accident. According to the AP, Bobby was pulled unconscious from the back of a burning Mercedes by the fire chief of Millstone Township, James Carbin, and a nearby resident, and then airlifted to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center where he was admitted in critical condition. Strangely the story was not reported until May 17, by which time he had been moved to an undisclosed facility.

I stumbled across the AP piece while I was researching material for another article and sent out feelers to some sources for more details. The scars were still fresh from the Diego Corrales tragedy and I was shocked and concerned.

A friend, the boxing writer Greg Smith, made contact with Bobby and a couple of days later Czyz sent me an email detailing his ordeal. The story is remarkable - a modern day miracle. He was in an induced coma for 28 days. He flat lined twice during his hospital stay. No one thought that he would make it.

Here, with Bobby’s approval, is how he described it in his own words:

“Mike,

“I was getting a ride home from a friend of a friend and I fell asleep in the back seat. My friend of 30 years also fell asleep in the back seat with me. We were going to his house. The next thing we know is that we’ve been in an accident. As it turns out, his friend drove off the road WITHOUT TOUCHING THE BRAKES and hit a tree head on. My friend and I went face first into the back of the front seats and sustained significant damage to our faces and ribs. Broken noses, ribs and severe lacerations to our faces in certain areas.

“The driver got out and started to run away and my friend asked me are you okay? He then chased the driver who had just destroyed his car. Not realizing how badly I was hurt, I passed out from the concussion. Well the car caught fire and yours truly was still inside. Some people in the neighborhood had seen the trouble and called the police and fire department.

“I was inside with the fire for 8-9 minutes and then pulled out. The fire had burned a good portion of my back and shoulders but I’m healing remarkably well. My lungs however were in serious trouble and I was taken to the hospital via helicopter. Once at the hospital they induced me into a coma so they could do the work necessary and save and repair my body.

“Well, during their working on me, they had to pump my lungs clean from all the soot while addressing the burns on my back. Eventually my lungs collapsed and I was put on a ventilator but my lungs tried to out breathe the ventilator and they collapsed again.

“A feeding tube was inserted into my abdomen while in the coma and I ripped it out causing emergency surgery to save my life. Finally they strapped my hands and feet down until they brought me out of the coma.

“When I came around and they told me all that happened I was a bit shocked but normally I’m a good patient and wanted to do the right things.

“Every single ligament, tendon and muscle had been dormant for 28 days and I had lost 30 pounds and all the tone and definition in my body. My lung capacity was down to 20%, but I WAS STILL HERE!

“So, I am slowly getting stronger and better but, having been so physical all of my life, I feel like an invalid. EVERYTHING HURTS ALL DAY AND NIGHT.

“My body had out healed the recovery process by 2 ½ -3 weeks and the doctors were shocked at the speed and completeness of my recovery. They suggested that I might be using some enhancement drugs because my body rebounded better than any of them thought it could. SO GOOD LIVING, HEALTHY EATING AND GOOD GENES are a plus when in physical distress.

“It is also incredibly important that you have good people around you to make decisions because my girlfriend Angela made all the right decisions which actually saved my life.

“Call me and I’ll give you the extra tidbits of my incredible journey.

“Talk to you soon,
Bobby”

Recently Bobby went to see the neurosurgeon and stopped by the Jersey Shore Medical Center trauma center where they cared for him to thank everyone. Bobby said, “Their jaws dropped,” in seeing the speed of his recovery. The burns are barely visible and his body is returning to normal.

One doctor told him, “I’ve never seen anyone recover this quickly. We couldn’t use your case for medical study because it would destroy the bell curve.”

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Reviewing some of my mail in the past week I saw an article entitled, “Bostick Comes Out Swinging,” an interview with promoter Bobby Bostick about the promotional rights to Kermit Cintron. More accurately, it was a press release with a Q&A between Bostick and his publicist, Rob Russen. In the three page release/article, Bostick states that he intends to do everything under the law to protect the rights of Bobby Bostick Promotions (BBP) and its investors on the Cintron contract.

To cut to the chase and avoid as much legal jargon as possible, here is a Reader’s Digest version of the Kermit court case:

January 2005 - Main Events signs Cintron with a provision that if he lost a bout that they promoted the agreement would be terminated.

April 2005 - Cintron loses to Antonio Margarito. Main Events exercised its right to terminate the agreement. Cintron remained bound by a clause that gave Main Events, “Right of first negotiation/last refusal,” but was free to negotiate with other promoters, subject to presenting the offer to Main Events within 14 days.

August 2005 - In an email expressly recognizing the right to match, Cintron’s counsel provided terms for a contract offered by Bostick. Main Events declined to match, but reserved future rights in the event that the offer was not fulfilled.

August 17, 2005 - Cintron signs with Bostick.

April 2006 - Cintron fights David Estrada under Bostick banner.

October 2006 - Cintron wins IBF welterweight title in a Bostick promotion.

December 2006 - Main Events sent a letter to Bostick and Cintron asserting its rights, alleging that the terms of the contract had been materially altered after they declined to match and the amended terms were not disclosed to them. Main Events claimed that there was a substantial diminution of the minimum purses for a title challenge as well as for a non-title bout, elimination of substantial bonuses, and a reduction in the required number of bouts.

December 2006 - Main Events files suit, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief and damages.

February 2007 - Bostick files its answer and counterclaim.

In short, Main Events sued Bostick for tortious interference and he counter sued.

Some of this matter came to light on December 27, 2006, when Golden Boy prematurely announced a Shane Mosley-Cintron match for February 10. In the press release Cintron was quoted as saying things that he later claimed he never said about fighting Mosley.

Sources say that Cintron did not want to fight Mosley for the title in the first place because he didn’t have the time he needed to make the weight, and Mosley only wanted to fight if it was for the title.

In addition, Cintron is suing Bostick claiming that the promoter breached his obligation to him and did not pay him substantial monies claimed due. Insider sources said that Kermit was offered “an enormous signing bonus” by (Bostick) after the Margarito fight, “an offer that (Bostick) did not follow through on.” The source said that the inflated matching rate was “a fantasy.”

Main Events re-signed Cintron recently.

One day after the Bostick interview was released his counter suit against Main Events was dismissed “in its entirety.” According to court papers, the judge’s opinion was filed on May 25, so it appears to be a bit curious as to why that article would be released just prior to the pending receipt of the opinion.

A source from Main Events said, “We knew the judge was ruling. The judge had already ruled and we were waiting for it in the mail.”

We wrote Rob Russen, the publicist who asked the questions in the Bostick interview, to ask why the “interview” was published just before the announcement of the judge’s ruling.

Russen wrote: “The timing of the release was set by BBP. The ruling was ‘with prejudice’ meaning BBP can and absolutely will continue on with their legal actions against all involved.”

Actually, “with prejudice” means that the dismissal is a judgment against the plaintiff and his rights have been determined and lost.

We replied back to Russen and told him that we had a copy of the judge’s opinion and it read that the matter was dismissed “without prejudice.” In other words, there is nothing to prevent Bostick from going to court and presenting a new independent cause of action.

His reply was that BBP would be issuing another press release pertaining to the Cintron matter.

On an unrelated matter, there was another press release on April 3, 2007, that erroneously reported that Bostick Promotions had signed rising contender Julio “Baby Face” Garcia. DRL Promotions issued their own press release from one of their partners, Roberto Duran, stating that, “First of all, I have never heard of Bobby Bostick, and neither has Julio.”

DRL had re-signed Garcia earlier this year.

I’m like Switzerland on this issue but you don’t have to be one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to know that you have to sign a recruit before you send him to war.