By Scott Gilfoid: Last Saturday night, British middleweight Nick Blackwell (19-4-1, 8 KOs) took a terrible beating in his 10th round stoppage loss to #2 WBA contender Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) at the Wembley Arena in London, UK. Blackwell, 25, wound up collapsing after the fight and needing to be rushed to the hospital for a brain bleed. Blackwell is reportedly been put in a medically induced coma to treat his brain bleed.
By Jeff Aranow: Following his 10th round stoppage loss to #2 WBA Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) last Saturday night, former British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell (19-4-1, 8 KOs) has been put into an induced coma in a hospital in London, England, according to Fight News. The 25-year-old Blackwell is said to have a brain bleed from the Eubank Jr. fight.
Moments after the fight, Blackwell collapsed. He had looked fine after the fight had ended, but he then went down and had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher. Blackwell was given oxygen while being taken away. Blackwell was stopped in the 10th round due to swelling over his left eye. His left eye appeared to be completely closed. Referee Victor Loughlin halted the fight at 2:21 of the 10th.
By Paul Lam: In the lead-up to his British middleweight title fight with Nick Blackwell, Chris Eubank Jr had shown scant regard for the abilities of the defending champion, predicting an easy night’s work and promising that he would stop the Trowbridge fighter inside the distance. He was proven right on both counts. In the tenth round, damage to Blackwell’s left eye came to the attention of referee Victor Loughlin who, after consulting with the ringside doctor, brought a halt to proceedings. However, the real damage had already been dealt over ten violent and one-sided rounds that became increasingly hard to watch as the fight progressed.
The Eubank Jr weapon of choice was a vicious guard-splitting uppercut that is quickly becoming his trademark, and he simply couldn’t miss with it. He landed it time and time again, busting up Blackwell’s face, breaking his nose and repeatedly rocking his head back.
By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBA middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. (22-0, 17 KOs) stopped British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell (19-4-1, 8 KOs) in the 10th round on Saturday night to capture the British title at the Wembley Arena in London, UK. The fight was halted during the 10th round by ringside doctor due to swelling of Blackwell’s left eye. Blackwell later had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher. I hope Blackwell is going to be okay because he took a terrible beating tonight, and he looked in bad shape when he was being taken out of the ring.
Blackwell was bleeding from his nose from the third round. That was a product of him just covering up like a sparring partner and letting Eubank Jr. open up with flurries. Blackwell was with constant uppercuts that he seemed to have no defense for. He wasn’t moving his head, and he was up against the ropes covering up during long stretches in each round. The uppercuts that Eubank Jr. was able to land in the fight really did damage to Blackwell. But I think more than anything, it was the sheer accumulation of head shots that Blackwell took in the fight.
By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBA middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. (21-1, 16 KOs) will be fighting for the British middleweight title tonight against champion Nick Blackwell (19-3-1, 8 KOs) at the Wembley Arena in London, UK. This is a belt that the 26-year-old Eubank Jr. wanted to win for some reason.
Eubank Jr. says that after he beats Blackwell tonight, he wants go after a world title against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders or WBA champion Daniel Jacobs if he can’t get the Saunders fight. It doesn’t look like Saunders is going to do Eubank Jr. any favors by giving him a world title fight off the back of a win over Blackwell. As such, Eubank Jr. will probably need to go the arguably much tougher route by going after the faster, stronger, more experienced, and more talented Jacobs.
By Jim Dower: British super middleweight champion Nick Blackwell (19-3-1, 8 KOs) weighed in at 159.25lbs today during his weigh-in for his title defense this Saturday night against the highly ranked #2 WBA 160lb contender Chris Eubank Jr. (21-1, 16 KOs) for their fight at the Wembley Arena in London, UK. Eubank Jr. weighed in at 159.6lbs. The Eubank Jr. vs. Blackwell fight will be televised on BoxNation.
By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBA Chris Eubank Jr. (21-1, 16 KOs) gave up his WBA mandatory spot for a world title shot in order to fight British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell (19-3-1, 8 KOs) this Saturday night on March 26 at the Wembley Arena in London, UK.
Eubank Jr, 26, obviously has his reasons for choosing not to go after WBA champion Daniel Jacobs or WBA Super 160lb champion Gennady Golovkin, but perhaps he and his father Chris Eubank Sr. don’t feel he’s ready to fight for a world title at this time. Just when Eubank Jr. will be ready to fight for a world title is unknown.
He’s got the youth to wait out the 34-year-old Golovkin, but that doesn’t ensure that some other middleweight doesn’t come along and swoop in on the WBA title once Golovkin is gone. If Jermall Charlo moves up in weight to 160, Eubank Jr. will probably be out of luck if he has to battle that hard puncher for the WBA belt one of these days.
By Scott Gilfoid: British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell (19-3-1, 6 KOs) will be fighting Chris Eubank Jr. (21-1, 16 KOs) this Saturday night at the SSE Arena, Wembley. Eubank Jr. fancies the idea of fighting for the British strap rather than going after a world title right now for some reason.
Without the punching power to keep Eubank Jr. off of him, Blackwell will likely be well over his head in this fight. Blackwell has been getting sparring help recently from former three-time world title challenger loser George Groves. I don’ see how Blackwell can beat Eubank Jr. without the punching power needed to do the job.
“He can’t step up to my level, he’s a British level fighter. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t think he’ll ever win a world title.”
WBO Middleweight King Billy Joe Saunders says Chris Eubank Jr will never be on his level.
By Jim Dower: #2 WBA Chris Eubank Jr. (21-1, 16 KOs) will be fighting next Saturday night on March 26 against British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell (19-3-1, 8 KOs) in a 12 round fight at the Wembley Arena, in London, UK.
This is an odd career move for the 26-year-old Eubank Jr. and you have to wonder where he got the advice for him to fight a fringe contender like ##15 WBC Blackwell for a domestic level title like the British belt. It’s a move that makes little sense at this point after Eubank Jr. defeated Gary O’Sullivan in his last fight in December by a 7th round knockout.
After that win, it was thought Eubank Jr. would look to fight for a world title against WBA World middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs or IBF/IBO/WBA 160lb champion Gennady Golovkin.