The British boxer Nick Blackwell is in an induced coma after suffering a bleed on the brain following a domestic title fight defeat on Saturday night.
The referee stopped the largely one-sided fight against Chris Eubank Jr in the 10th round after Blackwell, who had taken heavy punishment in most rounds, was deemed unable to continue by a doctor, due to swelling over his left eye.
Shortly after the bout, for Blackwell’s British middleweight title, which was televised live on Channel 5, the 25-year-old, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, collapsed and had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher with oxygen.
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) general secretary, Robert Smith, said: “I spoke to one of the doctors this morning and he said there is a bleeding of the brain.
“He’s in intensive care, he’s in an induced coma and he is resting and being looked after by the experts.
“It’s a very normal procedure. They put you in a coma to get the swelling to go down. There’s no time-scale. Now it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing.”
After the fight, Eubank Jr said: “I was hitting him with some big shots and the referee saw fit to let the fight go on. Looking back now, maybe he should have stopped it earlier.”
On Sunday morning, he paid tribute to his opponent's courage and wished him a speedy recovery. He tweeted: Eubank Jr's father, Chris Eubank, who was in his son's corner for the bout, said the incident brought back painful memories of his world title fight with Michael Watson in 1991, which left his opponent with severe brain injuries.
Watson nearly died as a result of injuries sustained in the fight and the incident forced the BBBC to boost safety at bouts to ensure that boxers who suffer such injuries get speedy assistance, including oxygen. Eubank said he was banging on the canvas during the Blackwell fight urging the referee to stop it.
A number of British boxers, past and present, have tweeted their support for Blackwell, including the world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who accompanied Blackwell into the ring on Saturday night.
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