Ngumbu suffered torn calf ligament in TKO loss

Doudou Ngumbu suffered a torn ligament in his right calf Saturday night during his TKO loss to light heavyweight world titlist Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission executive director Greg Sirb told ESPN on Wednesday.

The fight was stopped in the fifth round when referee Eric Dali and the ring doctor determined Ngumbu was unable to continue because of the injury.

“We have him on ‘indefinite medical suspension’ pending clearance of calf muscle and Achilles heel,” Sirb said. “I’ve seen guys twist their ankles real bad, but I’ve never seen a torn ligament like that.

“He was in the hospital for a couple of hours, they fitted him some type of boot,” added Sirb, who says that Ngumbu has since flown back to France.

It was a rather bizarre ending to a fight that was for the most part uneventful for the first several rounds.

Sirb also said that he had no problems with the referee calling a halt to the action and taking a few minutes to figure things out.

“Nobody wants to see the fight end that way,” said Sirb, “but I wanted to make sure the interpreter asked [Ngumbu] point blank if he could continue.”