He earned his living throwing haymaker punches with the force of a sledgehammer. But it was a slight move of the arm that has doctors hopeful comatose boxer Magomed Abdusalamov will not die as they once feared.
“It looks like he’s going to survive this ordeal where a week ago doctors didn’t think so,” Abdusalamov’s promoter Nathan Lewkowicz told The Post on Wednesday. “They were testing his reflexes and one of his arms moved. So that’s a good thing.”
Doctors have said they plan to bring Abdusalamov out of his coma “in the next couple of days,” Lewkowicz said. “We’ll see what happens then.”
Abdusalamov, 32, has been in a medically induced coma since undergoing brain surgery to remove a blood clot suffered after losing a brutal 10-round decision to Mike Perez of Cuba on Nov. 2 at the Garden Theater.
Abdusalamov suffered a broken nose, a broken hand, a swollen cheek and a cut over his left eye, but left the ring under his own power. He was cleared by doctors after a locker-room examination but began vomiting and shaking while traveling by taxi to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital. A CAT scan revealed the blood clot. Abdusalamov also suffered a stroke while in the coma as he was being treated for a 104-degree temperature.
Hopes of a recovery seemed remote until Abdusalamov showed some response.
“All signs are encouraging that he’s going to survive which is the most important thing,” Lewkowicz said. “The doctors are 100 percent he will survive where a week ago they were 100 percent sure he was not going to live.”
Now the wait begins to see whether Abdusalamov’s speech, vision and mobility will be impaired.
“There’s many things that potentially could happen,” Lewkowicz said.