Australian boxing great Jeff Fenech has undergone emergency open heart surgery in a Sydney hospital on Thursday after having privately battled for almost two weeks with infection, high temperatures and “grotesque” swelling.
Due to commentate Wednesday night’s hyped Wollongong showcase involving undefeated Australian Sam Goodman, Fenech was instead rushed to hospital 24 hours earlier with what has since been diagnosed as a serious infection.
The four-time world champion has also since undergone surgery to replace a heart valve that was first inserted during a separate emergency procedure in Bangkok five years ago.
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The procedure took six hours and Fenech is now in recovery.
Initially booked in for a double hernia operation on Monday, the retired champ was forced to cancel that procedure as his condition deteriorated over the weekend.
Then on Tuesday was then admitted to hospital with a “mystery infection”.
It is understood there were concerns the infection had moved into the heart valve which the 59-year-old had put in during a 2019 procedure.
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Speaking after initially being hospitalised earlier this week, Fenech told The Daily Telegraph: “I feel s…house.
“I’m as sick as a dog, a mystery infection … they think it has something to do with my heart and valves.
“They’ve done heaps of tests, (but) I don’t yet know what the results are.
“I came to hospital on Tuesday.
“I’ve had a high temperature for more than 12 days now. It was 39.8.
“I also have a really bad infection in my wrist and they think it could be heart related.
“If you see my wrist you’d die.
“It’s massive. It’s red, inflamed, swollen and sore.
“It could be an infection coming from the valves which has spread through my body. They don’t know yet.”
Five years ago, Fenech underwent life-saving heart surgery in Bangkok to replace an infected valve.
He was taken to hospital by his fighters after coughing up blood during a training session.
In a five-hour operation, Thai surgeons replaced the heart valve and drained fluid from his lungs.
Speaking shortly after that surgery, he said: “When I think of it now, it’s the scariest thing ever.
“I didn’t know that I was a couple of hours away from dying.
“The rest of the boys got an ambulance, I don’t remember it, but the ambulance took me to the hospital and they saved my life.”
One of those fighters was Jack Brubaker, who was in Thailand as part of preparations for his then upcoming fight with Tim Tszyu.