Nick Blackwell and the debate about boxing

The sport of boxing gave us a sad reminder of why it is such a dangerous yet compelling sport this week with the injuries to Nick Blackwell.  He was fighting Chris Eubank Jr, son of former world super middleweight champion Chris Eubank Sr, for the British middleweight title. As the clip below shows, Eubank Sr even climbed in the ring to ask his son not to continue with headshots on Blackwell, maybe he was thinking about the injuries he caused to Michael Watson back in the 1980s.

More importantly he was asking why the referee did not stop the bout when it was clear that Blackwell was not able to defend himself. Elsewhere, I read this article about the bout in the Spectator and came across this particular quote by the writer Simon Barnes -

But when deaths and serious injuries happen in sports like eventing, it’s because things have gone horribly wrong. When they happen in boxing it’s because things have gone horribly right. Two powerful and highly trained athletes are trying to hit each other’s brains.

What he said is true but what Barnes fails to mention is that boxers choose to take up the sport, either as a profession or pastime, voluntarily.  Of course, unfortunately, incident's like this will always happen, but that is part of the attraction of the sport to some.  Wrapping people up in cotton wool helps no one.

As someone who practices boxing as a hobby my thoughts are with Nick Blackwell, and I wish him a speedy recovery.