Nick Blackwell is a gladiator, a tightrope walker, the kamikaze?s kamikaze. He?s the grandmaster flash of no quit?
On Saturday, March 26, at Wembley Arena in Wembley, London, United Kingdom, another boxing tragedy occurred. Like most boxing tragedies it occurred in the ring. Like most boxing tragedies, it involved the brain.
Nick ?Bang Bang? Blackwell (19-4-1, 8 KOs), from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK, fighting out of the red corner in brown trunks with gold trim, challenged BBBofC middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs), fighting out of the blue corner in black and silver trunks, the son of a legend who resides in Brighton, Sussex.
Eubank has had a fine career. Except for a split decision loss to Billy Joe Saunders in 2014, he has won all his fights. In February of 2015 Eubank fought Dmitry Chudinov to win the interim WBA World middleweight title. It was a sweet victory that ended in the final round.
In his last fight, a non-title affair at the O2 Arena, Eubank stopped Gary (Spike) O?Sullivan, the man of steel from Cork, Ireland.
Nick Blackwell, like Eubank, also lost to Billy Joe Saunders. Unlike Eubank, he lost to Martin Murray and Max Bursak. But Blackwell had won seven straight since Bursak, and against tough competition, so he was primed for the fight, he had earned his title shot.
But there was one small problem. Eubank is the better fighter. Blackwell is a gladiator, a tightrope walker, the kamikaze?s kamikaze. He?s the grandmaster flash of no quit. But boxing is a skill and not a strength sport and the pedigreed kid with the starry future took Nick Blackwell to school.
The first few rounds were give and take. By the middle rounds, Eubank did most of the giving and Blackwell did most of the taking. He took it like a man, one expects nothing less, but he began busting up early. He couldn?t cope with Eubank?s speed and boxing IQ.
He couldn?t cope with Eubank
When they finally waved off the fight at 2:11 of the 10th round, Blackwell was a mess. His face smeared with blood, his left eye completely closed, the fight needed to be stopped, but it was already too late.
Nick Blackwell collapsed in the ring. He was carried out on a stretcher. He had an oxygen mask strapped to his face.
Blackwell was taken to a hospital and placed in an induced coma.
?It is our understanding that Nick has a bleed on the brain and is under observation by hospital staff,? said Robert W. Smith, General Secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control. ?We will just have to wait and see what the hospital says.?
The waiting is the hard part. Blackwell?s family told the BBC he remains ?heavily sedated? but is ?not deteriorating.?
There has been an outcry, but the British Board of Boxing Control has cleared the referee, the ringside physician, and Blackwell?s trainer Gary Lockett of any wrongdoing.
Smith told the BBC, ?I?ve spoken to the referee, Victor Loughlin, I?ve spoken to Gary Lockett. We had discussions with regard to how the fight went and I?m satisfied with their decisions on the evening.?
Critics, of whom Chris Eubank Sr., is the most vocal, are not satisfied. They say the fight should have been stopped sooner.
At the end of round eight, Eubank lamented to his son, ?If he doesn?t stop it and we keep beating him like this, one, he is getting hurt, and two, if it goes to a decision?why didn?t the referee stop the fight? I don?t get why. So maybe you shouldn?t leave it to the referee.?
