On Friday, his son’s surgery went well, his fifth brain surgery was a success, and after he was able to exhale, and say a prayer of thanks, Al Franco decided to lay down his arms.
The father had taken to social media to campaign against promoter Roc Nation, specifically targeting music mogul Jay Z, who started a boxing arm of his company and brought Andre Ward and Miguel Cotto aboard, signaling he wanted to rumble with the biggest dogs in that sphere.
Five months and no calls from the top level execs, and no follow through on promises to stand by the California based boxer who fell into a coma after suffering head trauma in his June 10 featherweight fight versus Jose Haro, thundered Al Franco on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. His language was none too polite, either, and his directness rubbed the Roc crew the wrong way.
Al thundered and often re-Tweeted fan feedback echoing his anger and disgust at RN’s backing away from the tragic case. The situation in actuality has a bright side to it, in that today Daniel, who turns 26 on Dec. 22, is walking, taking, and has a prosthetic brain flap attached on the top of his head, to replace the chunk carved out so as to allow his brain to swell after bleeds popped up after being kayoed by Haro.
The fifth and the family hopes final surgery was Friday and by Saturday, Al Franco was in a new head space.
No more fighting, no more fury, he told his followers on Facebook. I don’t want to battle like this, it is draining and the negativity is sapping me, was his message. This story, in the LA Times, ran, and he felt like he got the message out as best he could, and more focus on it could be detrimental to his mental health.
“I see lots of people on my social media getting angry at Roc Nation,” Al Franco told me. “To be honest I don’t want people getting mad, ruining their day angry about it. All we wanted was for Roc Nation to post the Go Fund Me page and we know they aren’t going to, so what’s the point? Again, I don’t want people upset for no reason. My son’s surgery was successful and I’m grateful for that. That’s all that matters. Roc Nation showed that they don’t care.”
You can go to the Go Fund Me page and offer up a donation here.
I checked the Facebook page Monday, though, and saw an indication that walking away fro this stand on principle might not be so easy for the father.
Uh, oh…
The fighting pride of Al Franco seems to not be so easily quelled. Stay tuned…