BOXING: 'Not a fair question' Chris Eubank Jr says when asked to choose between British title and health of boxer he knocked down

British boxer Chris Eubank Jr refused to answer a journalist who asked him to choose between the British boxing title and Nick Blackwell's health. Nick Blackwell is currently in a state of coma after he was rushed to hospital following severe bruises to the brain from boxer Chris Eubank Jr's punches on Saturday night.

Eubank Jnr and his father/manager, Chris Eubank Snr, held a press conference on Tuesday where Channel 4's Matt Frei asked Eubank Jnr:

 'If you had the choice of having Nick Blackwell in perfect health - he didn't have to be in an induced coma - or holding on to your belt, what would it be?'

The boxer replied:

'That's not a fair question, I'm not going to answer that. This is my life, I'm in there to do a job. I don't wish any harm on anybody outside the ring and I wish him a full recovery.'

Frei, 52, had earlier riled Eubank Snr when he asked:

'If it's about winning; is this advice you gave to your son giving him mixed messages; is it confusing?'

Eubank Snr replied: 'Your line of questioning is not conducive to a good interview.'
Frei: 'Why?'

Eubank Snr: 'It just isn't; it's not going anywhere. You're asking me...'

Frei: 'What's wrong with the line of questioning?'

Eubank Snr: 'It's unfair.'

Frei: 'Why is it unfair?'

Eubank Snr:

'The objective is to score your points. If anything, this fight wasn't an exception in that I gave him this advice, it's a rule of thumb. If you don't need to land shots to the head, then don't. It was a command I gave him in telling him to go to the body. I walked back and left him to it and he has to make the decision.'

When Eubank Jnr was in the corner after the eighth round at Wembley Arena, TV cameras caught his father saying:

'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 a decision, why didn't the referee stop the fight? I don't get why. 

So maybe you shouldn't leave it to the referee. So you're not going to take him out to the face, you're going to take him out to the body.'
Chris Eubank Jr said, 'I'm glad the doctor stopped the fight because the referee wasn't going to. I was playing.

His father, whose fight against Michael Watson in 1991 ended in with his opponent in a coma and requiring six brain operations, added:

 'Even in sparring, I tell Junior to stay away from the head because his punching is fast, powerful and dangerous. So most certainly I was saying this to protect the fighter. He had the fight won. This is a dangerous sport and we are real.' 

No celebration by Team Eubank has happened and will not happen until Nick makes a full recovery, and I mean full recovery.'

source: lindaikejisblog