1. Nick Blackwell won the English middleweight title in 2010, at the age of twenty, becoming the youngest boxer to do so.
14 Facts About Nick Blackwell
1. 2.
Nick Blackwell turned professional on 26 June 2009, having had no amateur experience and spending his teenage years in the sport in white-collar boxing.
3.
Nick Blackwell won his first regional title on 20 November 2010, scoring a ten-round unanimous decision against Harry Matthews to become the youngest ever English middleweight champion at twenty years old.
4.
On 18 June 2011, Nick Blackwell challenged Martin Murray for his Commonwealth middleweight title, as well as the vacant British middleweight title.
5.
On 15 December 2012, Nick Blackwell received a second opportunity at the Commonwealth title, this time against defending champion Billy Joe Saunders; the vacant British title was on the line.
6.
Nick Blackwell travelled to Ukraine on 21 September 2013 to fight for the vacant WBA Continental middleweight title, but lost a twelve-round unanimous decision to Max Bursak.
7.
Nick Blackwell achieved his most significant win, on a prominent stage at The O2 Arena in London, by stopping Ryder in seven rounds to become the British middleweight champion.
8.
Some minutes after the fight was stopped, Nick Blackwell was given oxygen and taken out of the arena by stretcher.
9.
Nick Blackwell was later taken to St Mary's Hospital with bleeding of the skull and placed in a medically-induced coma, but an operation was not deemed necessary.
10.
On 23 May 2016, Nick Blackwell criticised the reaction of Eubank Jr.
11.
Nick Blackwell was said to have been hurt by the reaction of the Eubanks in the immediate aftermath, despite turning to Twitter to first claim there were no hard feelings.
12.
Nick Blackwell couldn't stop me to the head so he wanted to hit me to the body to try and get rid of me.
13.
In June 2018, Nick Blackwell made his first public appearance following the ill-fated sparring session, in support of his friend Tyson Fury at the press conference for his fight against Deontay Wilder later that year.
14.
Nick Blackwell said his recovery was ongoing and that he had used a wheelchair for a long time.