The Aftermath of Nick Blackwell Coming Out of a Coma & His Battle with the Eubank’s
By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart
Well….
If you thought that the drama of ending up in a coma was going to be the end of the battle between Nick Blackwell, 19-4-1, 8 KO’s, and Chris Eubank, JR., 22-1, 17 KO’s, events over the last week have taken us off into a different level. Now that Nick Blackwell has recovered and is fit and fully well, the news show circuit has started. People want to know how he felt and what giving up boxing has meant for him.
Well…
On morning TV in the UK, and interviewed by a clearly biased host, Piers Morgan, we found out what he thought. Now let’s bear in mind that a lot of people had been taken by the way the Eubank’s had handled the immediate aftermath of the fight.
Well…
The Blackwell family were taken by the way the Eubank’s had handled the aftermath of the fight; and it wasn’t all that positive. On their behalf Nick Blackwell, supported by his brother, Dan, weighed in.
On daytime TV, Nick blasted the Eubank’s calling them “inhuman” and how the way they behaved after the fight was “disgusting”. Nick was scathing about the Eubank’s lack of attendance at his hospital bed, “I’d always see it if I was in that situation, I’d want to go and see him.” Of the press conference after the fight, Nick revealed, “My family begged them not to do it and they went to do it.” He also spoke of how the British Board of Boxing Control had also begged the Eubank’s not to hold the conference either.
As for the suggestion, made by Eubank, SR, that he had instructed his son to keep away from his head, Nick retorted, “It was more of a tactical thing. He wanted to hit me in the body to try and get rid of me.” But Nick claims he is not bitter.
Well…
The response from Eubank came with the right of reply, almost immediately, as they came to be interviewed by their friend, Piers Morgan on the same show; different day. There Eubank, JR. offered the British title belt that he took from Nick Blackwell back to him. Describing him as a “warrior”, this goodwill gesture is unlikely to be received well. Eubank, JR. had hoped that Nick would have been on the same program so he could offer the belt in person but it was not to be. He said, “His career’s over now and as a gesture I was going to go to the hospital present him with my belt.” Eubank, JR. was shocked that there was any form of bad blood between them as he explained, “I was shocked when I first heard the things he had been saying because we had a little talk on Twitter and he said everything was okay and there was no hard feelings. The truth is, I ended the guy’s career, I’ve stopped him from making a living.”
Rumors that Eubank, JR. had gone out to party after the fight were dismissed by Eubank, JR. as he said they were, “100% not true”. Eubank, SR., however was, seemingly, unrepentant as he claimed that he told Eubank, JR. to only throw punches at Nick’s body rather than his head because he could see how the fight was going. Now this is a brutal sport and nobody should watch their son, or daughter, at the age of 26 go through what Nick Blackwell went through. But… When you step into the ring you are well aware that the possible consequences of being in the ring with someone with enough firepower in their fists to beat you up, knock you unconscious and potentially cause serious harm to you; this is part of the job of being a boxer. There are few who cry foul when it’s for a title and few who cry foul when it’s so well paid. But this isn’t about what happened between two “warriors” in a square pugilistic platform.
This is about the dignity of the suffering and the willing “victim”. It is about the aftermath and if the Eubank’s ignored the wishes of the Blackwell family and the British Boxing Board of Control, they have opened themselves up for intense scrutiny and criticism. Whilst Eubank, JR. was hardly dancing on the grave of his opponent, there are many who now think he was at least putting on his dancing shoes. It is undignified but to be fair, the Eubank’s, having heard of the criticism have been magnanimous and fulsome in their praise of Nick Blackwell. Their response is either a very clever media trick, or a humble gesture that is genuinely felt. We all would like to feel that it is genuine, I do, but it does not take away from the fact, if it is a fact, that the Blackwell family said no and the Eubank family said yes. At a time when one son is in a coma, it’s not difficult to work out who should win that argument.
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