Sheffield boxers plan 24-hour challenge for Nick Blackwell
Adam Etches and Kell Brook have launched a fundraising campaign for Nick Blackwell, who was left in a coma following his title fight defeat on Saturday.
Sheffield boxers Adam Etches and Kell Brook have launched a fundraising campaign for Nick Blackwell, who was left in a coma following his title fight defeat on Saturday.
They’ve set up an online page to try and raise £10,000, and are also planning a 24-hour treadmill run at Sheffield’s Owlerton Stadium this Saturday.
They plan to run 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off in turn for a total of 24 hours.
Nick suffered a bleed on the brain after losing his British middleweight title to Chris Eubank Jr, and was put into a medically induced coma.
“Nick’s a very nice person,” says Adam, a fellow middleweight fighter.
“It’s very unfortunate what happened to him and our thoughts are with Nick and his family. Nothing really has been said on what his condition is like but going into a coma…there’s a chance he might not be able to box again.
“It’s a bad time for him so even if he can fight again, it won’t be for a while until he’s fully recovered. So I just thought it’d be nice to raise a bit of money for Nick during this bad time.
“It’s just such a good thing that everyone’s come together and shown they care. I’m happy so many people have come forward to help.”
The fight raised questions around whether the referee should have stopped the contest earlier. It was halted in round 10 after Nick's eye became too swollen for him to see out of.
It also sparked a wider debate around whether the sport in general should be banned, but Adam says the argument is ‘ridiculous’: “Boxing is a dangerous sport. I know that. Nick knows that.
“But I think there’s far more good that comes of boxing than there is bad so to say it should be banned…I think that’s ridiculous.
“I haven’t seen the fight because I was fighting on the same night, but I’ve heard what a good fight it was and how tough and brave Nick was. It’s the referee’s decision… sometimes people say they stopped it too early or too late but it’s only when accidents happen that it comes to light.
“It’s sad and upsetting, but you try and shut that out and you think as a boxer it’ll never happen to you. But it just goes to show it can happen to anyone."