A Referee can only ever be 50% right....

...that's what my Instructor used to say, and he was always right! Well except when he was refereeing my fights and scoring the other way. Wait! That was his point entirely of course. On Saturday passed we witnessed one of the best Boxing matches I have seen in a long while between Nick Blackwell and Chris Eubank Jnr. After the 10 rounds of magnificent sporting combat things took a turn for the worst and young Nick Blackwell collapsed in the ring. It lead to consternation and condemnation across the board. Detractors of Boxing and Combat sports alike became more vocal, aligned behind seemingly reoccurring events. Ultimately though; the place were most of us receive our daily dose of abuse, hatred and ill informed opinion, trumped all  those reasonable concerns and firmly splattered into the realms of "Talking Shite". I of course refer to Facebook, the platform none of us wanted, the apogee of the electronic soap-box. "Talking Shite" and imprudent status update its mainstay and constant talking point.

"Blackwell's corner are responsible for it", "The referee should've stopped it sooner", "Boxing proves we aren't as civilised as we claim to be" amongst the things written. Combat Sports are constantly maligned along with the people involved in them too. It is good to talk about issues raised but we should try our very best to remain informed and be less quick to jump to conclusions especially if we don't hold the authority to make such claims. What happened on Saturday is a tragedy but it is not as common as you may be lead to believe. I was reading The Observer on Sunday keen to find out any news on Blackwell's condition. I flicked to the "Sport" section. Football-Football-Football, Cricket, Rugby league......nothing. On the Saturday Luke Campbell (M.B.E by the way) claimed the Lightweight Commonwealth title, Eubank Jnr beyond the incident took the British Title, Kell Brook demolished a mandatory challenger for the IBF World Welterweight and the British Heavyweight Champion of the world's cousin was fighting. There was literally nothing in the paper, not even news of Blackwell's accident. On the front page however was news of Mo Farah placing third in an Olympic Warm up in Cardiff?! Soon though the papers would be running the story of the Boxer who collapsed in the ring. In the month of March there were 45 shows that passed without incident, 12 apparently since the Friday night! Yes it is important to report on Blackwell's collapse but there is without a doubt a subtle demonising of the sport when it comes to mainstream reporting, that is of course when they bother to report on it at all.

Back to Facebook, and the nonsense being offered up by the "Fans". Victor Loughlin, the ill-fated referee, has become the principle player in this tale of evil and exploitation of a young man coerced and seduced by the world of boxing. I did, unlike many who offered wisdom, watch the fight. I listened to the "horribly biased" commentary. I saw the fighters go into the 5th round, 2 rounds a piece on the official score card. I saw Eubank Jnr begin to pull away. I also saw Blackwell take some big punches (especially that uppercut). I  noted how he sat back on the ropes in double guard much like Muhammed Ali did against George Foreman, I saw him take a huge percentage of Eubank's strikes on the gloves and arms and I saw him smile, goad and throw back his own shots every time. I saw him rise from his stool and bound to the centre of the ring first, at the start of every round. I saw a young lad, backed by a great corner who had come from a darker past of unlicensed matches, a troubled tearaway saved by boxing relish every moment of his title defense. HIS TITLE. I did not see a negligent official. I saw Victor Loughlin defer to the ringside doctor in the 10th round and act upon his advice to halt the fight.

The press seem to be running with the story of how Eubank Snr. may have saved Blackwell's life, the quote
"If the referee doesn't stop it, then I don't know what to tell you, but I will tell you this: one, if he doesn't stop it and we keep on beating him like this, he is getting hurt; two if it goes to the decision, why didn't the referee stop the fight. I don't get why?" People are keen to link this with compassion displayed by the champ, or to put it down to guilt he may hold after Michael Watson (ask the "fans" about him) I don't doubt for a second that Eubank Snr. is a gentleman or that he was concerned about his son's opponent on a purely human level. However I believe this to be tactical chat from a seasoned veteran. Like I said I watched the fight, what does not seem to be reported is that in this same quote Eubank went on to say something along the lines of. "You only fell a tree by hacking at it's trunk" to which Eubank Jr. replied "ENOUGH!" To me this would seem that Eubank Snr had noted how much fortitude of the chin Blackwell had and had been telling his son to work the body for some time. Something that the Son had grown tired of hearing as in "Yes Dad, I know you were a legend but this is my fight and I fight my fight my way"

Think what you think of course, but the way I see it if anyone is to held accountable for saving Blackwell it is not Eubank but the very people some are keen to discredit. Namely the referee, the Doctors and the Cornerman. Many will play a part in Blackwell's recovery, the medical staff where he is now, his friends and family and ultimately himself. If he fights with even a quarter of what he displayed on fight night he will be back stronger than ever and I wish him all the best. The latest reports say that he may be taken out from his induced coma within 24 hours and we all hope to hear good news on his condition.