NICK Blackwell emerged victorious from the ring on Saturday night and revealed that a key part of his show-stopping British middleweight title win over John Ryder was the battle between the ears.

Trowbridge’s ‘Bang Bang’ claimed national glory at the third attempt as he stopped the hardy Ryder in the seventh round at London’s O2 Arena last weekend.

And the 24-year-old says that his triumph was built on him winning the mental battle with Ryder.

“I remember thinking in the first few rounds that I needed to get in gear and turn it around,” said Blackwell.

“Gary (Lockett, trainer) was telling me to do stuff and I just couldn't do it. I was too tense and stiff. I needed to relax, I needed to let my shots flow.

“After this happened, in the fourth round, I saw signs of Ryder breaking.

“In fact, I was talking to Ryder throughout the whole fight. A lot of people said he was quite mentally weak, so I tried tapping into that.

“When he picked up a cut, I kept telling him how bad his cut was. When we got into the middle rounds, I kept reminding him that I was just warming up.

“I could tell it was all playing on his mind and that he was getting weaker and weaker. I think I just mentally destroyed him.”

After rocking Ryder with a powerful right hand, Blackwell was able to jump forward on the offensive and finish off his opponent, who had dropped his guard.

However, some of the Trowbridge fighter’s frantic seventh-round onslaught failed to find the mark and some pundits declared that referee Howard Foster was too quick to bring the contest to an end.

Blackwell disagrees with any suggestions of an early stoppage however.

He said: “I caught him with a right hand that wobbled him, followed by an uppercut and a left hook and he wasn't in any position to guard himself.

“Some people said it was a bit of an early stoppage but I disagree.

“I tried talking to Ryder after the fight and he was all over the place. He then sat down and spoke to his trainer, Tony Sims, and he said to him: ‘what just happened?'

“Ryder didn't know where he was.”