Monday Morning Notes: Fighter in critical condition after KO in Mexico

Marco "Texano" Nazareth is in "critical but stable" condition today after suffering a TKO loss to Omar Chavez, the younger fighting son of the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez, on July 18 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Ronnie Nathanielsz reports that Nazareth underwent brain surgery after the fight in which he was knocked down in the opening round and the action was stopped in the fourth.

Nazareth (4-4, 3 KO) was fighting Chavez for a second time. The two met in a four-rounder in 2008, which Chavez won on the cards. He is a native of Puerto Vallarta who turned pro in 2005. His birth date is not listed on BoxRec.com.

Bad Left Hook sends our best wishes out to Marco Nazareth, his friends and family, and also to Omar Chavez.

• In Texas, recently-rising junior middleweight slugger James Kirkland, a superstar in the making, plead guilty to the gun charge that halted his career this spring. You can't say enough how disappointing this is, and you also can't say enough how stupid it is. Kirkland had the goods, man. He could've been a big money fighter with the way he fought, and he had a great personality and a great story to match his ferociousness as a fighter. It's not his first picnic with the wrong side of the law, but he's probably seen his last picnic as a relevant fighter. It's an absolute shame.
• Enzo Maccarinelli has made official his decision to retire from boxing. Macca has long had his detractors, but as much as I was one of them when it came to saying he was chinny and just not as good as he had been made out to be pre-Haye, I also always thought he seemed like a nice, honest, hard-working guy, and he really is talking about the decision like it truly hurts him to have to do this. We wish him all the best.
• Brian Viloria will make his first defense of the IBF junior flyweight title he won in a war over Ulises Solis when he takes on Jesus Iribe (15-5-5, 9 KO) in September. Not exactly the most inspiring choice of opponent. Iribe did go 12 rounds with Edgar Sosa back in 2008, and he did win one round on one of the three official scorecards, so...there's that, I guess?