
The Beltline: When did you first watch a fight become a tragedy?
Once you have witnessed a fight go wrong, you start to look at the sport differently, writes Elliot Worsell.

Once you have witnessed a fight go wrong, you start to look at the sport differently, writes Elliot Worsell.

Ten years ago today, Elliot Worsell watched British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell fight Chris Eubank Jnr in London and then fight for his life.

Liam Wilkins and Hasan Karkardi are to appeal against the punishments handed down by the British Boxing Board of Control. The pair were sanctioned in relation to the sparring session that left former British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell in hospital. Trainer Wilkins, who was handed the permit only last February, had his licence withdrawn, while light-heavyweight Karkardi (7-1, 1 KO) was given a six-month suspension.

Hasan Karkardi and Liam Wilkins have been suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control following the sparring incident which saw Nick Blackwell admitted to hospital for a second time.

Nick Blackwell was not well enough to attend a British Boxing Board of Control hearing in Cardiff on Wednesday into the unsanctioned sparring session which left him in a coma with swelling on his brain, Press Association Sport understands.

Nick Blackwell has regained consciousness after doctors told his family he might never wake up after an ill-advised sparring session. The former British middleweight champion, who was put into an induced coma in March after collapsing following a defeat at the hands of Chris Eubank Jr., was forced to give up boxing in the wake of that incident.

Chris Eubank Jnr has described Nick Blackwell's decision to risk sparring having had his career ended by a life-threatening head injury after their fight in March as "absolute madness".

The British Boxing Board of Control hopes Nick Blackwell will contribute to a hearing in the new year. The Board, which is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Blackwell's ill-fated sparring session last week which resulted in him once again being rushed to hospital after he fell ill, wants the former British middleweight champion to explain at its January hearing why he was in the ring. Blackwell, 26, is no longer sedated and remains in a stable condition. However, the Trowbridge man — who retired from the ring with a record of 19-4-1 (8 KOs) in the wake of his first visit to hospital following a defeat at the hands of Chris Eubank Jr. in May — is yet to regain consciousness after surgery to remove part of his skull to ease swelling on his brain.