Boxer Prichard Colón taken off sedatives, family prays he wakes from coma

FAIRFAX, VA - OCTOBER 17: Prichard Colon holds the back of his head in a match against Terrel Williams in their super welterweights bout at EagleBank Arena on the campus of George Mason University on October 17, 2015 in Fairfax, Virginia. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) (2015 Getty Images)

Boxer Prichard Colón remained in a coma after suffering a brain injury during a bout Saturday, but has been taken off sedatives by doctors who continue to monitor him as his family prays that he will soon wake up.

Colón, a Puerto Rican super welterweight, has been in critical condition since Saturday when he suffered a brain bleed suffered during a fight in northern Virginia against Terrel Williams. While Colón remains in a coma, according to his family, the boxer is responding to different neurological stimuli.

"The doctor contacted Colón’s parents, told them they had done everything possible for Prichard, and the only thing left to do is wait and see if he wakes up," the Colón family wrote in a Facebook statement on Thursday.

Meantime, the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational regulation has launched an official investigation into the bout that left the fighter in a coma at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

"We are looking at everything," Mary Broz Vaughan, the office’s director of communications, told Fox News Latino. "Interviews will take place. Our hope is certainly to talk with Prichard himself, god-willing, and certainly with his family when we can, and when that is appropriate."

The fight between Williams and Colón, 23, scheduled for 10 rounds was marred by a number of strange moments.

In the fifth round, Colón went low and struck Williams with what the referee took to be an intentional punch below the belt, for which he was assessed a two-point penalty.

Two rounds later, Williams punched Colón behind the head and received his own one-point penalty. Colón was visibly shaken and needed to take a break in the middle of the round.

The fight continued, but the Puerto Rican fighter was clearly still feeling the affects of the rabbit punch. In the ninth round, he got knocked down twice.

Apparently believing it was the end of the 10th and final round, Colón's corner men started taking off his gloves after the ninth and couldn't put them back on before referee Joseph Cooper disqualified him.

Colón left the ring on his own after the fight but became dizzy and nauseous in his dressing room.

Broz Vaughan told FNL the investigation is reviewing the entire situation to ensure that the right protocols and regulations were followed to conduct the fight in the safest way possible and that the proper protocol was followed after the bout when it became clear that Colón needed medical assistance.

“I’m praying for this young man, praying for his family," Williams told the Los Angeles Times recently. "Nothing else in fighting matters to me right now. My priority, my No. 1 concern, is for Prichard Colón to make a full recovery.”