On July 26 of this year, former Italian heavyweight champion Gianmarco Cardillo was supposed to face two-time Olympic champion Bakhodir Jalolov in New York. That fight never happened, canceled at the last minute due to alleged health issues that emerged during the medical examinations our fighter underwent in the U.S. Yesterday, about four months after the events, Cardillo and his coach Marco Guglielmi recorded a video to present their version. Below, we report in full what Guglielmi said on camera.
Hi guys. Do you remember the fight we were supposed to have in America with Gianmarco against Jalolov this summer, which then didn’t take place? Now we’ll tell you why. Many rumors circulated about the cancellation of this match, but now we’re telling you the truth, and we’re telling you with documents in hand.
They asked us from America to undergo some medical tests. Gianmarco did the tests, went to a specialist bringing the MRI scans, and the doctor issued a certification. This certification was sent to America at the end of June and, once examined, they replied that everything was fine, the athlete was eligible. So we were put under contract for this match with a strong Uzbek boxer named Jalolov who, let’s remember, won the Olympics twice and, between one Olympics and the next, won the amateur world heavyweight championship.
We prepared, we spent a summer training hard. You all remember last summer – scorching hot: while others were at the beach criticizing, we were in the gym and traveling through the best gyms in Italy, working with the best Italian fighters.
On the second day after arriving in the U.S., we were asked to undergo another medical examination, an additional one, as if the Italian one wasn’t good enough for them, even though it was basically the same tests: it’s not like they needed something different. Keep in mind that we did the medical exams in Italy at Neuromed in Pozzilli. Neuromed in Pozzilli is known worldwide as a center of excellence where world-renowned neurosurgeons operate and examine patients. In New York, we were sent into a basement to undergo this medical exam.
We came out of Central Park, returned to the hotel, and while heading back we received a call. They told us that, due to the results of the tests Gianmarco took in America, even though they weren’t required since they were the same tests we had already submitted, Gianmarco could not fight because he had a brain aneurysm.
You don’t need a degree to understand what that means, but anyone who knows what a brain aneurysm is would never tell a professional athlete who made so many sacrifices: “In two hours you’re getting on a plane and going back to Italy.” Everyone knows that in a pressurized airplane cabin, if you have a brain aneurysm, they don’t even let you board. If you declare it, you’re not getting on that plane.
We tried to contact Top Rank’s promotion and the managers on site, and while talking to one of them I managed to arrange an appointment for another exam, at our own expense, in a public facility. This person, who works for Top Rank, agreed to the exam. He said, “Alright, do this exam and then we’ll talk.” Five minutes later we got a call from someone upstairs, who didn’t even come down, saying: “No, you didn’t understand. You’re leaving. Go pack your bags, leave the room, and get on the plane. The fight is canceled.” And when he was told: “One of your managers agreed to another exam…” he replied: “I said the fight is canceled,” and hung up the phone. Then the taxi came, took us away, and that was the end.
Gianmarco went back to Italy and we were all worried, because if they said so, maybe there was some truth to it. So he returned to the specialist and said: “Professor, they told us this.” The doctor laughed. Then he said: “Alright, let’s do this: let’s run an angiography, which is the definitive test.” Gianmarco underwent the angiography, and nothing of what the American facility claimed was detected.
Gianmarco started having doubts. The truth is, they fundamentally didn’t want Gianmarco to fight. We don’t know why, maybe due to excessive caution. What’s certain is that the other fighter wasn’t there that day. What’s certain is that the match didn’t happen, but not because of us.
There are things I didn’t tell Gianmarco to protect him: he’s hearing them tonight, in front of you. Some so-called “teachers,” who don’t even have the credentials to teach, dared to say that we were afraid to take the fight. We broke our backs all summer because “we were scared”. We went all the way there, we took a long flight, just to take a stroll in New York. Dear gentlemen, this is not how you help the sport grow. Have the decency to respect an athlete who gave everything he had in the ring since he was a child. And let me tell you this in advance, especially to those saying Gianmarco was scared and that we were scared: on January 30 we’ll be in Denmark to fight a very good opponent. I don’t know about you.