Former Puerto Rican boxer Prichard Colón, once hailed as one of the most promising talents of his generation, has died at the age of 33, nearly 11 years after a catastrophic brain injury ended his career and left him in a persistent vegetative state.

His father and former trainer, Richard Colón, confirmed the death in an emotional message on social media, thanking supporters for years of prayers and revealing that he had long hoped to fulfil his son’s wish to return on vacation to Puerto Rico.

Colón, a junior middleweight with a glittering 16-0 professional record and 13 knockouts, was widely viewed as a future world champion. A tall, aggressive fighter with sharp combinations and a strong amateur pedigree, he had captured gold at the 2010 Pan American Youth Championship and was considered one of Puerto Rico’s next great boxing hopes.

That trajectory was shattered on a night in October 2015 at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, when Colón faced American welterweight Terrel Williams. Throughout the bout, Colón complained of repeated blows to the back of the head, known in boxing as rabbit punches. In the ninth round he was knocked down twice before his corner stopped the fight between rounds.

Shortly afterward, Colón collapsed in the dressing room and was rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered a subdural hematoma, a life-threatening brain bleed. Emergency surgery saved his life, but he spent 221 days in a coma and never recovered the ability to walk or speak, requiring round-the-clock care from his family.

His case reverberated through the sport. In 2016, the World Boxing Council introduced the “Prichard Colón Rule,” reinforcing a zero-tolerance stance on punches to the back of the head and urging referees to act more decisively when such fouls occur. The rule became a symbol of the sport’s struggle to balance its brutal nature with fighter safety.

Colón’s parents later filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the ringside physician and event organizers, arguing that warning signs were ignored and that he should never have been allowed to continue fighting that night.

Born in Maitland, Florida, to Puerto Rican parents, Colón embraced his island heritage, often draping himself in the Puerto Rican flag as he entered the ring. In life and in tragedy, he came to embody both the glory and the grave risks of professional boxing.