Chris Eubank Jr vs Nick Blackwell ultimately ended in near tragedy in what proved to be a savage encounter in UK boxing.
It was a fight that beforehand many thought Eubank Jr would come through in relatively straight forward fashion for the British title.
However his opponent Nick Blackwell was to prove courageous, too courageous perhaps in the end.
It was a fight that saw him soak up a huge amount of punishment that afterwards resulted in him being rushed to hospital with a bleed on his brain.
At one point it appeared as though Eubank Jr’s father (Chris senior) was pleading with his son not to punch Blackwell in the head and instead focus his efforts to the body.
Chris Eubank vs Nick Blackwell full fight (hat tip and credit: Fight Club YouTube)
A savage, savage.
Thankfully Blackwell was to make a full recovery in the end after the fight, although he did return to sparring a few months after that saw him return to hospital (thankfully recovering again).
The bout made worldwide headlines at the time after it highlighted how dangerous a sport boxing still is – even in 2016 with all the technology and medical expertise that the sport could call upon.
Following the fight and other tragic fights in 2016 involving another fighter (based in Scotland) called Mike Towell, a new brain scanning device for boxing was trialled in 2017 in the UK.
The Chris Eubank Jr vs Nick Blackwell fight above still acts as a stark reminder of the often harsh realities that the professional boxing business can create.
(Image credit: Hennessy Sports)
