Lo Greco says he fought Amir Khan with a concussion, remembers ‘zero’ from the fight and is just happy he escaped without being put in a coma
CANADIAN BOXER Phil Lo Greco has revealed that he fought Amir Khan last year with a concussion - and feels lucky to have not been put in a coma that night.
The 35-year-old has also said that he remembers 'absolutely zero' from the fight or even the training camp - and was knocked out after just 38 seconds by the Brit.
Lo Greco told the that he sustained the concussion while sparring in the build up to his bout with Jesus Gurrola - nine months prior to the Khan fight.
The all-clear was given for Lo Greco to fight Khan - but following Adonis Stevenson's horrible brain injury sustained against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in late 2018 - he has decided to open up on the matter.
Lo Greco said: "Why did I lose in 30 seconds? I was dumb to not move my head in the ring with a concussion. Luckily I didn't end up in an induced coma that night because the fight ended so early.
"You remember during the first press conference? I was wearing sunglasses. Do you think I was wearing them to look cool? It was because the lights were bothering me and my mind was so mentally f****d up and confused that I don't remember anything from that training camp."
For months after the gruelling eight-round win over Gurrola - Lo Greco couldn't get to the bottom of what was wrong with him - until he eventually felt the need to get himself checked out.
"I couldn't get to the bottom of it so I went to hospital and saw the doctor in October or November that year (2017). He told me, 'You have a concussion, you have to treat this.'
"Then I go ahead and taunt Amir Khan, not thinking I would get the fight. But I get the fight and I'm like, f*** I spoke so much, what am I going to do, back out? People will think I'm a big mouth'."
Lo Greco had gotten himself into something he felt he couldn't get out of, and the symptoms just wouldn't go away.
"So when I was there, at the press conference, my mind was spinning, I was just praying to god during the training camp I would heal. I don't remember nothing - absolutely zero.
"When they (the photographers) took the pictures I thought, 'f***, they caught my eye', but luckily nobody made a big fuss. Can you imagine the conditions I went into the fight (with) that night? How dangerous and critical and dumb was it of myself to do that."
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Concussion has been a particularly relevant discussion point in boxing recently, following Anthony Joshua's trainer Rob McCracken's admission that he "knew" AJ was concussed in the third round of his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in June.
Joshua was knocked out in the seventh round and lost his world heavyweight title.
Despite this, Lo Greco still thinks trainers may overlook the symptoms when the stakes are so high: "It depends on the type of fight that it was. For me it was a winnable fight, (so) I took a shot to take the fight."