LOS ANGELES — Ruben Contreras' eyes sparkled mischievously as he recounted how he promised his mother to never fight again.

Some 10 weeks earlier, Contreras lay comatose after sustaining a brain injury in a boxing match against Waipahu's Brian Vilora, with doctors working to stop the bleeding.

Yesterday, Contreras was energetic and conversing normally in his native Spanish, beaming as he vigorously shook the hand of one of the surgeons who saved his life.

"Gracias," Contreras said.

The 32-year-old fighter obviously has come a long way back from an injury that could have left him in a vegetative state.

"I'm very, very happy to see him this way," said Dr. David Duarte, a California Hospital Medical Center surgeon who operated on the Mexican fighter the night of May 28.

"If you see him on the street now, you wouldn't notice anything different about him, would feel that he was just another person."

Still shaky on his feet and using a walker, Contreras slowly made his way into a conference room at the hospital to meet some of the trauma unit staff who had treated him, and to hold a news conference.

Earlier in the day, he was released from the rehabilitation center where he spent some five weeks.

Yesterday's public appearance was quite different from his last.

Contreras quit in the sixth round of an eight-round bout against Viloria on a May 28 undercard at Staples Center. Less than 10 minutes later, the flyweight from Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, collapsed and had a seizure.

He was taken immediately to the hospital a few blocks away, and, within a half hour or so, was in the operating room. The surgery lasted about 2 1/2 hours.

"I felt that something was wrong," Contreras said of his quitting the fight. "God told me to stop. If I hadn't stopped, I probably wouldn't be here today."

Duarte said the fact that the fighter was operated on so soon after the injury saved his life and limited any brain damage.

"We feel that in another 30 minutes, he probably wasn't going to make it," Duarte said.

Contreras remained in a coma for weeks. When he came to, the first person he saw was his wife, Nancy.

"She was always at my side," Contreras said through a translator. "It was very sad for her to see me in that condition."

His wife, Nancy Maldonado, said through a translator: "It was very difficult, very hard. I'm very happy and very grateful to God."

A carpenter when he wasn't boxing, Contreras already has begun woodworking again, and also resumed playing the guitar and playing chess.

Asked how long until he believes he will be back to normal, Contreras smiled and said with certainty: "A month."