Caption:LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 30: Nick Blackwell of England lands a punch on John Ryder of England during their British Middleweight Championship fight at The O2 Arena on May 30, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
British boxer Nick Blackwell remained in an induced coma after he suffered bleeding to the brain following a British middleweight fight against Chris Eubank Jr. in London on Saturday.
According to the Telegraph, Blackwell, 25, was listed in stable condition yet in intensive care at St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington on Monday. The bout on Saturday was stopped in the 10th round, after Blackwell’s left eye became so swollen he was no longer able to see out of it.
Blackwell collapsed in the ring after the match was stopped, and he was carried off on a stretcher after officials administered oxygen to him. The boxer was then transferred to St. Mary’s.
“I spoke to one of the doctors this morning and he said there is a bleeding of the brain,” Robert Smith, the general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, told The Guardian on Sunday. “He’s in intensive care, he’s in an induced coma and he is resting and being looked after by the experts.
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“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,” Smith added.
Eubanks expressed support and compassion for his opponent via Twitter on Sunday.
Eubank’s father, Chris Eubank Sr., was in his boxing corner on Saturday and told The Guardian that the fight reminded him of his own match from 1991 with Michael Watson, in which Watson suffered severe brain damage. That fight caused British boxing officials to increase safety measures during professional fights.
Several other fighters, including Lennox Lewis and Barry McGuigan, also took to social media to show their support for Blackwell.
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 30: Nick Blackwell of England lands a punch on John Ryder of England during their British Middleweight Championship fight at The O2 Arena on May 30, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
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