By Terence Dooley

London's light-middleweight prospect Michael Norgrove died earlier today from injuries sustained during his fight with Tom Bowen, 3-4-1, at London's The Ring, Blackfriars on March 28.  The Zambia-born prospect floored his opponent in the first round, but was stopped at 0:29 of the fifth by referee Jeff Hinds.  Norgrove had an operation to ease a bleed on the brain, but he succumbed to his injuries nine days later.

The BBBoC commented on the sad news when speaking to the BBC earlier today.  "The whole sport feels for his family and we need to let it sink in.  He was a nice little boxer — but forget boxing for now, it's very sad news indeed," said General secretary Robert Smith.

It means that Norgrove's record will remain frozen in time at 5-0 — the fight with Bowen was declared a NC and the rest of the bill was cancelled when Norgrove was rushed to hospital — and we will never know just how far the 31-year-old, a sparring partner of 2008 Beijing Olympic middleweight gold medalist James DeGale, could have gone in the pro ranks.

Steve Goodwin promoted Norgrove's first five fights, he expressed his sadness during an interview with BoxRec News.  "I am proud to have been associated with Michael," said Goodwin.  "He was always a kind and warm human being, a very talented boxer and it is a very sad loss to everyone who ever met him.  My thoughts go out to his family."

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