Chris Eubanks, JR Sends Former British Middleweight Champion Nick Blackwell to Hospital
Chris Eubank Jr. and Nick Blackwell met in the ring on Saturday for the British middleweight championship. Going into the fight, Eubanks Jr. was heavily favored by online betting predictions, and he came through on the predictions by defeating the British middleweight champion.
Despite Eubank winning the fight, there was little celebration for the new champion because his opponent had to be taken to the hospital after the fight.
For a lot of boxing aficionados, the fight between Eubank and Blackwell reminded fans of a fight involving Eubank’s father and Michael Watson in 1991.
In the 1991 fight, Chris Eubank Sr. defeated Michael Watson for the British title, after the fight, Watson was taken to a hospital where doctors told him he had suffered an almost fatal brain injury. Watson underwent six operations to remove the blood clot in his brain and was partially paralyzed after the fight.
Interestingly, Watson’s experience in the ring that night had a role in saving Blackwell’s life on Saturday.
Chris Eubank Sr. was in his son’s corner on Saturday during the fight with Nick Blackwell. Chris Eubank Jr. was in control of a one sided fight and after the 8th round, it looked like Blackwell was in trouble and could barely see with his left eye swollen and shut.
Chris Eubank Sr. saw that Blackwell was in a bad way and could be seriously injured, prompting him to enter the ring before the start of the 9th round. Eubank Sr. told his son to stop hitting Blackwell in the head so he doesn’t suffer brain damage.
Eubank Sr. felt Blackwell had taken a lot of punishment and the referee should have stopped the fight. When the referee failed to intervene, he told his son that since the referee wasn’t looking out for the fighter, Eubank Jr. needed to stop hitting Blackwell in the head because it could do some significant damage to Blackwell’s health. Eubank Sr. told his son to go attack the body instead and hope the referee finally decides to stop the fight.
The fight went on for another round and was eventually stopped in the 10th round after the doctor at ringside told the referee that Blackwell couldn’t see out of his left eye. A few minutes after the fight was stopped, Blackwell collapsed to the ground and was rushed to the hospital.
At the hospital, Blackwell was admitted into the intensive care unit due to bleeding in his brain. Fortunately, Blackwell’s injuries do not require surgery.
In an interview with reporters, Watson said seeing what happened to Blackwell in the ring sent him on a trip down memory lane. But he was thankful that there were medical professionals on hand to help Blackwell when he collapsed.
“I went through a lot when it happened to me, and it makes me feel happy that what I went through led to a change in the medical provision laid out for boxers,” Watson said.
Watson also said Chris Eubank Jr. should not blame himself for what happened to his opponent because he didn’t go into the fight with the intention of sending his opponent to the hospital.
Robert Smith, the British Board of Boxing Control’s General Secretary, defended the referee’s decision not to stop the fight.
“Every boxer who gets into a ring knows the risks,” Smith said. “We have everything in place as best we can. But we’re never going to make it 100 percent safe. We do everything we possibly can, we are very strict in this country.”