Dec. 25, 1962 - Heavyweight boxer Alejandro Lavorante (right), in a coma since Sept. 21, spent a silent Christmas today in California Lutheran Hospital. The Argentine boxer’s condition remains unchanged. On Sept. 21 at Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, Lavorante was winning his bout with Johnny Riggins (left) all the way until the end of the fifth round, when a right hand from Riggins sent him spinning. In the sixth, Lavorante was still dazed and wobbling from light taps. A left hook finally sent Lavorante to the canvas, where he was counted out. After attempts to revive Lavorante by commission doctor Robert Rocke were unsuccessful, a stretcher was brought into the ring, and Lavorante was removed ten minutes after the knockout. On September 23rd, he underwent emergency brain surgery for four hours to relieve a blood clot in the left side of his brain. Lavorante also had three areas of bleeding in his brain. Following the operation, an emergency tracheotomy was also performed. Doctors said earlier this month they could not predict when Lavorante, 26, might emerge from the coma, but they said they hadn’t given up hope that he may open his eyes and speak.
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