Former NFL player turned boxer Greg Hardy endured a concerning scene in the ring Friday night when he suffered an asthma attack between rounds during a match in Russia.
The 37-year-old Hardy, a one-time Pro Bowl defensive end who played for the Panthers and the Cowboys during a six-year NFL career from 2010-15, was unable to continue the exhibition match against MMA fighter Evgeny Goncharov in the Russian city Vologda.
Soon after being released by Dallas in 2016, Hardy began a fighting career with 13 bouts (7-5-1) in the UFC before turning to boxing in recent years.
Hardy absorbed several connected punches in Friday’s third round before doubling over in his corner while being attended to by on-site medical personnel before being able to compose himself.
While seated on a stool, he could be overheard on video asking for his asthma inhaler before the fight was stopped.
Hardy also has dealt with legal troubles during and after his NFL career, including an arrest in June for assaulting a family member in Texas, charges he called “lies and rumors.”
He had previously been arrested and initially convicted in 2014 for assaulting and threatening to kill a woman, but the conviction was overturned on appeal the following year. Hardy was also busted for cocaine possession in 2016.
Originally a sixth-round pick out of Mississippi, he made the Pro Bowl with Carolina with a 13-sack campaign in 2013.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
