Boxing isn’t a game—you don’t play it. The sport has a brutal reality, where every fighter stepping into the ring takes a serious risk, and sometimes, the consequences are life-changing. Over the years, fighters have been seen suffering devastating injuries, serving as harsh reminders of just how dangerous the sport can be. Former English middleweight champion Nick Blackwell knows this all too well.
But despite everything he’s been through, Blackwell has no resentment toward Chris Eubank Jr. As the IBO middleweight champion reflected on the incident in an interview, Blackwell made it clear—there are no hard feelings. For him, it was just part of the sport he loved.
After a grueling fight against Eubank Jr. in 2016, Blackwell suffered significant swelling above his left eye, leading the referee to stop the match in the 10th round.
Shortly after, he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma due to a small bleed in the brain. Remarkably, Blackwell made a swift recovery and felt like his old self again. However, defying medical advice, he returned to sparring later that year and tragically collapsed once more, resulting in a second, more severe brain injury.
This time, the damage was life-threatening, leading to a prolonged coma and necessitating extensive rehabilitation. This would effectively end his career and change the course of his life. In 2025, he is still in need of care as the struggles to accomplish everyday tasks continue.
Eubanks Jr. who takes on Conor Benn in a few weeks, spoke about the unfortunate case with Piers Morgan. He said that the injury reminded him of just how dangerous boxing was a serious sport and while he enters the ring with a ‘seek and destroy’ mentality, he is very aware that the tables can turn on him just as quickly.
Blackwell responded to the clip on Twitter saying, “You don’t play Boxing. My whole life changed that night everything I trained and worked so hard for my whole life ended in one night.I think about it everyday.”
Expressing his faith, Blackwell added that he was blessed to be alive and had “no bad feeling” towards Chris Eubank Jr. The former boxer added that he would soon try to come to London on Fight Week to visit the champion.
You don’t play Boxing…..
My whole life changed that night everything I trained and worked so hard for my whole life ended in one night…… I think about it everyday…..
I’m blessed to be alive I have no bad feeling towards Chris Eubank Jr and hope to see him soon I’m… pic.twitter.com/dhlnqOEm8l— NICK BLACKWELL (@nickblackwell02) March 14, 2025
It might seem odd to some when Blackwell claims he’s “blessed”, considering what he continues to go through every day. However, to those who remember the tale of Prichard Colón, this is an understatement.
Referee errors dearly cost Colón
Colón was a rising star in the boxing world, known for his impressive record (16-0, at the time) and charismatic presence in the ring. However, his promising career took a tragic turn on October 17, 2015, during a bout against Terrel Williams at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia.
Throughout the match, Colón endured multiple illegal blows to the back of his head—known as rabbit punches—a tactic prohibited in boxing due to its potential to cause serious injury.
Despite Colón’s repeated complaints to the referee about these illegal hits, the fight continued. In the later rounds, Colón began to show signs of distress, experiencing dizziness and disorientation.
After the ninth round, his corner mistakenly removed his gloves, believing the fight had concluded, leading to his disqualification.
Shortly after, Colón collapsed in the locker room and was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a significant brain bleed—a left-sided subdural hematoma.
He underwent emergency surgery but was left in a persistent vegetative state, a condition that persists to this day.
