Liam Smith has dedicated his win over Chris Eubank Jr to Nick Blackwell who was left in a coma by the Liverpudlian's rival.
Smith took on bitter rival Eubank Jr in a huge pay-per-view showdown at the Manchester Arena which ended in glory, after he produced a scintillating fourth-round stoppageto close the show in dominant fashion. The Liverpudlian brutally sent his opponent crashing to the canvas with a barrage of powerful shots before the referee deemed Eubank Jr unable to continue.
And as Smith waits for his rival to decide whether to activate his rematch clause, the victor released an emotional message paying tribute to Blackwell, which the retired fighter posted on his social media.
Smith said in the video: "Alright Nick hope you are well mate, just wanted to say that was for you." Blackwell captioned the post: 'Message to me after the fight from Liam Smith. 'That one was for me'." The 32-year-old had previously written: "I'm BUZZING what a fight. Well done @LiamBeefySmith, you've made my night. I thought you would win, YES!"
Eubank Jr and Blackwell met in an all-British clash in 2016 which saw the latter left with a huge swelling above his eye after taking a brutal beating from his rival. The contest was waved off after ten rounds by the referee with Blackwell having absorbed 298 punches before collapsing to the canvas just minutes after the fight ended.
Blackwell suffered a bleed on the brain and was carried out of the ring on a stretcher, with medical staff electing to place him in an induced coma. After a brave battle, Blackwell was left with no option but to call an abrupt halt on his career.
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Smith was delighted with his win over Eubank Jr which has now left his rival facing calls to retire after suffering the third loss of his career. And former cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson believes he should propose any rematch at a new weight or avoid it entirely.
"I won't take anything away from Liam because I think he boxed brilliant," Nelson told Seconds Out immediately after the fight. "But I think what that shows is that Chris getting down to whatever weight it is - when Chris went he was gone. You've just got to think that if you're going to do that you have to be smart about how you do it.
"I wouldn't do [the rematch] at that weight, No.1. And No.2, I think there's going to be a lot of soul searching if you're torn up like that, beat up like that it's hard to get your head around it. Once bitten, twice shy, what do you do?"
