GF Boxer JJ Moen Remembered - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

UPDATE

Family and friends tie together tonight after a Grand Forks boxer bowed out of the fight for life.

We've been following Jerimiah "JJ" Moen since he was sent to the hospital Saturday night for serious head trauma.

JJ died Wednesday morning.

They remember his power in a punch, his strength in a swing.

"His jab was his specialty, long arms, tall, six-foot three," Mike Sweeney, JJ's uncle and father-figure described.

Last Saturday afternoon, the once Tri-State Golden Glove champ entered a three-round super heavyweight bout and twenty-nine year old JJ Moen was fighting his way to a national championship.

"If JJ set his mind on something he would do it," Sweeney said.

But it only took one round.

"The bell rang to end the round and he had a glancing blow and it staggered him slightly and when they got him on the chair he virtually collapsed," Sweeney described the fight. "He had a seizure and nobody thought for a moment that it was that serious."

It only took one hit.

"Our worst nightmares were realized when we got here and it was total disbelief."

Faith drained like cups of coffee keeping them awake.

Sweeney refused to leave the bedside of the boy he raised, the man now on life support.

He says JJ would never give up, so family and friends weren't going to give up on him.

Doctors told family and fiends he entered the fight that day with undetected head trauma, meaning even a lighter blow could knock him down.

"Tragic as it was, he was doing something he loved when he had the accident," Sweeney said.

So, he's not remembered for the fighter he was, but the force he is, because JJ didn't take his final swing in the ring. That came four days later, in a dimmed waiting room when JJ's jab came from behind and knocked love back into the fight.

"We're blessed we have great support, he was loved by everybody," Sweeney said before adding a bit of advice, "hug your children, they're a precious gift."

Sweeney says JJ's last wish was to donate his organs to children needing transplants. His family says it puts them at ease to know he will live on in that way.

A Grand Forks amateur boxer who collapsed during a fight over the weekend has died.

Jerimiah Moen died Wednesday morning at Altru Hospital. He was 29.

Moen collapsed during the first round of a sanctioned three-round fight Saturday in East Grand Forks, Minn.

Moen's uncle, Mike Sweeney, says Moen had "serious trauma'' to his brain from previous injuries, including concussions. Moen had remained unconscious and in critical condition since the fight.

Sweeney says the family is not putting blame on anybody, but believes Moen's death will make people more aware of the need for tests.