- Jeff Fenech has undergone open heart surgery
- Boxing icon was admitted to hospital on Wednesday
- In 2019, he underwent the same procedure
Jeff Fenech has undergone open heart surgery after being hospitalized with a mystery illness.
Australia’s greatest ever fighter had undergone emergency heart tests at a private hospital in Sydney’s west after his body temperature reached almost 40 degrees earlier this week.
As a result, he was not present at Wednesday night’s main event broadcast for Curtis Scott’s professional boxing debut, but his TV colleague Ben Damon has since confirmed that Fenech, 59, is recovering after doctors replaced a leaking infected heart valve.
‘Great news!’ he tweeted. ‘The legendary Jeff Fenech has undergone successful open heart surgery to replace a leaking infected heart valve and is now recovering in hospital.
‘The surgeon is satisfied with how the six-hour operation went.’
Jeff Fenech has undergone open heart surgery for the second time, it has been revealed
The boxing champion was admitted to hospital on Wednesday
He underwent surgery after doctors discovered a leaking valve
It is the second time that the former world champion has undergone open heart surgery. In 2019, surgeons in Thailand replaced another infected valve while he was on vacation there.
Speaking to News Corp on Wednesday, Fenech said: ‘I feel s***house.
‘I’m as sick as a dog. I have a mysterious infection. I’m done with it.
‘They think it has something to do with my heart and valves. They did a lot of tests. I don’t know yet what the results will be.’
He first required open heart surgery as he battled pneumonia, with the operation forcing him to miss his daughter Jess’s wedding.
The ‘Marrickville Mauler’ began coughing up blood and suffered a shaking fit before being admitted to hospital in Bangkok where doctors performed a five-hour operation, draining fluid from the boxing legend’s lungs and replacing his heart valve.
“I have some pretty bad news: I have an infected valve connected to my heart,” he explained in 2019.
“That means they will try to get rid of the infection over the next few days and then I will have to have surgery.”
Fenech said earlier this week that he felt ‘sick as a dog’ and ‘s***house’
He then burst into tears because he could not stay in the camp with his boxers.
“I really feel sorry for the rest of the team,” said a distraught Fenech.
Fenech first made his name in the sport when he represented Australia at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where a highly controversial decision robbed him of the chance to compete for a medal.
He went on to compile a professional record of 29 wins, 21 of them by knockout, three losses and an infamous judges’ decision that scored his first fight with Azumah Nelson in 1991 a draw.
Fenech won bantamweight, super-bantamweight and featherweight titles, and was retroactively awarded the WBC super-featherweight title in 2022 when the World Boxing Council corrected the result of that fight against Nelson.
He retired in 1996 and has since trained fighters including Danny Green and his good friend, former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
