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Paz: I was lucky to be able to walk
- Updated: November 30, 2016
When Vinny Paz knocked out Gilbert Dele in October, 1991 to become the second fighter in boxing history to win both the lightweight and light-middleweight world championships, he was on top of the world.
One month later, everything Paz – formerly known as Pazienza – had earned was ripped away from him when he was involved in a head-on car collision that left him with a broken neck.
Paz fractured a vertebra that was within an eighth of an inch of his spinal cord and was informed by his doctor a return to the boxing ring was out of the question.
When ‘The Pazmanian Devil’ emerged from hospital weeks later, he did so with a cage-like contraption called a ‘halo’ drilled into his skull to ease pressure on his spine and was told any heavy blows could threaten his ability to walk.
But Paz ignored the advice of his doctors and was soon back working out in secret, away from the concerned …
