Light Heavyweight boxer, Joe George Jr was cleared and released from a hospital in Detroit Monday morning after a sudden collapse during a boxing match Sunday evening.
Joe George Jr and Atif Oberlton were slated to box for 10 rounds as the co-main event of the Claressa Shields vs Franchon Crews-Dezurn card on Sunday Feb 22nd. The bout ended abruptly between the first and second round when Joe George, while on his stool and speaking to his cornermen, lost consciousness and collapsed onto the canvas.
Prayers for Joe George jr as he passes out walking to his stool from a non contact accident🤯 pic.twitter.com/fVy3TYk56y
— Unbiasedbox2 (@Unbiasedbox2) February 23, 2026
As he lay motionless, being attended to by medical staff, exactly what had happened wasn’t clear. The DAZN crew found that an accidental head clash had occurred about 20 seconds after the opening bell of the 3-minute round, which was concluded as the most likely culprit.
Joe George Jr regained consciousness within 1 minute of the collapse but appeared disoriented and continued receiving medical support. He was eventually put on a stretcher, carried out of Little Cesar’s Arena and taken to the hospital.
Dmitry Salita, Promoter of the Shields vs Crews-Dezurn event, later told Boxing Scene’s David Greisman there were “No reported injuries” and that he was told by George’s coach that “he gets real nervous before fights and this time did not eat all day”
Whether it was the head-clash, Joe George’s not eating, or a mixture of the two is not exactly clear at this time.
