Nick Blackwell: 'Anyone involved in sparring session should be banned' - Warren

Nick Blackwell was put into an induced coma following his defeat by Chris Eubank Jr (right) in March

Anyone involved in the sparring session that left former boxer Nick Blackwell in hospital should have their licences revoked, says promoter Frank Warren.

Blackwell, 26, needed surgery to reduce swelling on his brain after sparring on 22 November, despite no longer having a licence to fight.

The Press Association understands he is stable and no longer sedated.

Blackwell retired in April after he had to be put into an induced coma following defeat by Chris Eubank Jr.

"How stupid is it for him to be sparring in a ring after such a serious injury that ended his career?" Warren said on BBC Radio Wales.

"What concerns me is are any licence holders involved? Who was he sparring with? Is he a professional boxer?"

Warren, 64, said the incident was "dreadful" for the sport, for Blackwell, and for his family.

"How on earth can people have allowed this to happen?" he said.

"Anyone involved should have their licences taken away because they certainly didn't have Nick Blackwell's or boxing's best interests at heart."

An investigation by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) into the circumstances surrounding Blackwell's injury is ongoing.

'This is madness, total madness'

Blackwell collected his BBBofC trainer's licence in October, after encouragement from his former trainer Gary Lockett.

He was due to be in the corner of Liam Williams, whom Warren promotes, for the Welsh light-middleweight's victory over Gabor Gorbics in Cardiff on Saturday.

Warren said: "It's why you have a governing body - they're there to protect the boxers from themselves.

"Some of these guys want to box because they're fighters. They just think, 'Oh it doesn't matter I can get over that.'

"A lot of money was raised to help because he wasn't going to box anymore and he obviously received his purse from his last fight, so this is not about money, this is about someone wanting to fight.

"It's not like this is a few years on - it's eight months ago. This is madness, total madness."