COME the end of Saturday night’s card at the Derby Arena, a relieved Nick Blackwell no longer sported the biggest headache in the ring.

A bone-shuddering sixth-round stoppage saw Trowbridge’s ‘Bang Bang’ Blackwell halt the previously unbeaten Damon Jones to defend his British middleweight crown, in a fight shown live on terrestrial television - Channel Five - at the top of the Hennessy Sports bill.

Until that point, the 24-year-old had endured a tricky time against Jones’ cool and calculated counter-punching, with Blackwell tagged time and again as he waited for the opportune moment to strike.

That came in decisive and devastating fashion as a savage right hand blew away his opponent.

Post-fight, the British champion revealed that his performance against Jones had been hamstrung by illness and whilst nonetheless delighted to have got the win with a spectacular display of power, the Wiltshire man has vowed not to gamble with his fitness again in future.

“It had been playing on my mind before the fight. I kept waking up thinking ‘I’ll wake up the next day and I’ll feel better’ and I kept feeling lethargic and had no energy,” he said.

“I was probably thinking about it too much. Even when I was walking down to the ring, I was thinking about it and I thought ‘how am I going to feel after three rounds?’.

“I’m so happy that I caught him with that right hand and finished him the way I did but if I didn’t catch him with that, I could have been in for a hard night’s work. You have these obstacles in boxing and you never really go into a fight at 100 per cent.

“But I’m quite a mentally-strong guy and I thought ‘you know what, it’s going to make the fight a little bit harder but you’ve got to grit your teeth and get through it’ and that’s what I did.

“It’s a lesson learned – never go into a fight feeling like that.

“If I had lost this fight, I would have come away knowing exactly why I lost and I shouldn’t have put myself in that position. I’ve worked too hard for that.”

After also powering his way to a seventh-round victory against John Ryder at London’s O2 Arena in May following a difficult opening spell, Blackwell’s aim was shine as he gave a full account of his talents against Jones in Derby.

Hampered by illness, that didn’t happen and, by the Trowbridge star’s own admission, that will send out mixed messages to his middleweight rivals.

He said: “I wanted to go into this fight and use my boxing skills.

“But again, I didn’t have the gas in my tank to start throwing my combinations, so that’s why I was keeping my guard and loading up those big shots. I was doing that from round one.

“A lot of boxers in my weight are going to look at me and think ‘I can out-box that lad’.

“Some people will look at that fight and think ‘I don’t want to fight him’ and some will look at it and think ‘yeah, I can take that lad’.

“So it’s good and a blessing in disguise really.

“There are a few things I didn’t do well in my training camp but I’m still only 24 and I’ve got lots to learn.”

l MELKSHAM’S Liam Richards was defeated on points over four rounds by Joe Tonks at Olympia in Liverpool last Saturday.

It was Richards’ 10th fight since returning from a near-three year absence from the ring this year.