Eubank could have just saved his son's opponent's life.... The poor lad is in a bad way in hospital but may not have made is but for Chris Snr's instruction to his son. Big, big respect.
That fight should have been stopped much earlier! Not sure what his tea were advising by allowing him to go back in!
Watched the fight, heard what he said, but his son had other ideas and kept beating him to the head. No blame on him like, the guy kept coming so he has to do his best to finish him. Blame the corner.
The ref should have stopped the fight. It was clear he was struggling. Massive respect to Eubank and his son as a lot of teams would have said to finish him off with blows to the head. That would have done more damage. The referee needs to take some of the blame. He should be ok mind you but might not be the same boxer.
As DPP says the fight should not have continued on for so long, I am not a big fan of boxing and the more focus that is being brought on concussive injury in sport makes me even less so, boxing is of course an easy target in this but as with American Football, Rugby, Football and other major sports more has to be done to protect participants as much as is feasibly possible. I have to applaud Rafa and the team doctor for keeping Mitrovic off the pitch even though it meant finishing the match with only ten men at a crucial time for the club, it's possible that another manager in similar circumstances may have let the player override the decision and keep playing. I do hope Nick Blackwell pulls through this and comes out the other side without any lasting damage.
Watched the fight and was saying at the time that referee should have stopped fight at least two rounds prior to when he did. Also agree with JPF. What on earth were Blackwell's corner doing, or more importantly, not doing.
Great fight. Hope the kid is ok as he put a hell of a lot in as he always does. Have to be honest and say I don't blame the ref. He was trying to give him every chance on what was always likely to be the pinnacle of his career. He was fighting back and therein lies the problem for the ref. The problem with Blackwell is its the accumulation factor. He fights that way every time and has a habit of using his face as a defence. His corner are well aware he has no quit in him and well aware of the punishment he has taken previously. They had the responsibility to pull him out and let him go. Of course he will be saying to them don't dare pull me out but they have to look after him. I understand why many have a problem with boxing but to me you always have two athletes who are going in there fully aware of the risks, willing to put it on the line for a sport they love. I don't know the stats on head injuries etc for boxing compared to other sports - but I'd imagine they don't compare too badly. Its the nature of contact sport sadly, and outside of getting rid of loads of sports or changing them in a way that makes them a non starter as a spectacle, I think you just have to take the rough with the smooth. Eubanks views are irrelevant and of course he is naturally influenced by past events. I think he was telling the ref to stop it but I don't recall him saying he wanted him to not him in the head, rather he felt he wasn't hitting the body enough.
Might explain why Eubank show boated for a while not aiming any punches. Thought he was cocky at the time but now think he knew the lad was hurt bad.
Of course, nobody wants to see anyone suffer injury of any sort in boxing, but you have to be realistic. Getting punched in the head (as an occupation) is going to greatly increase your likelyhood of getting a serious injury. The British Title was on the line and two fierce warriors were after it, neither would back-down and while Nick was still throwing back and showing no sign of injury, the ref can do nothing except let them continue. The responsibility remains entirely with the boxer's own corner. If they can't recognise when he's taking a battering, then they have to look at themselves. This is why boxers earn the money they do - it's a highly dangerous sport - you can't apply the 'Nanny State' to this sport because it would kill it, and then send it 'underground' where even more people would be at risk of serious injury. A real shame for Blackwell but it can't change anything.
