SURGEONS are not planning to operate on Nick Blackwell after he suffered a bleed on the brain following his British middleweight title defeat by Chris Eubank jnr in London on Saturday.
Referee Victor Loughlin stopped what was at times a brutal toe-to-toe encounter in the 10th round on the advice of the ringside doctor who ruled that Blackwell as unable to continue because of swelling over his left eye.
He was taken to hospital on a stretcher and was last night still in an induced coma after a scan on Sunday revealed no increase in the pressure on his brain.
Blackwell’s promoters, Hennessy Sports, tweeted on Sunday: “Thank you all for the messages of support for Nick Blackwell. We will be issuing updates when the time is right.”
Eubank jnr had dominated the fight, bloodying Blackwell’s nose in rounds three and four with a flurry of jabs and uppercuts before landing a number of heavy blows in round seven.
British Boxing Board of Control general secretary Robert Smith said: “I spoke to one of the doctors 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 timescale. Now it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing.”
