Eubank confirms Blackwell mercy plea

LONDON - Former British boxer Chris Eubank Tuesday confirmed that he told his son to stop targeting Nick Blackwell’s head during a bout that left Blackwell in an induced coma. Blackwell, 25, has been in an induced coma and was found to have suffered a small bleed on the brain after collapsing at the end of his British middleweight title defeat by Chris Eubank Jr on Saturday. Television images appeared to show Eubank Sr telling his son not to aim for Blackwell’s head during the fight, which was stopped in the 10th round by referee Victor Loughlin. “Even in sparring, I tell Junior to stay away from the head because his punching is fast, powerful and dangerous,” Eubank, a former middleweight and super-middleweight world champion, said. “So most certainly, I was saying this to protect the fighter.”

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