GARY Lockett-trained Nick Blackwell is in hospital with a bleed on the brain after losing his grip on the British middleweight title.

Blackwell’s quest to claim the Lonsdale Belt outright with a third successful defence was ended by Chris Eubank Jnr in the 10th round of their clash at Wembley's SSE Arena on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old Blackwell, coached by Cwmbran’s Lockett in Cardiff, had suffered a major swelling around his left eye and was hospitalised following the fight having left the ring on a stretcher.

He has been placed in an induced coma.

It was hard to split the former sparring partners in the first round, a Eubank upper cut arguably the most eye-catching punch of the opening three minutes.

More shots were landed in the second, Blackwell having success with the jab and Eubank landing a couple of good blows to the body.

The next saw the fight really come to life as both caught each other cleanly, although Eubank edged it thanks to a couple of combinations which left the champion nursing a bloody nose.

Eubank applied the pressure early in the fourth, though he was content to ease off at times before unloading again.

Upper cuts gave Eubank more joy in the fifth and there was plenty of showboating from the challenger as he turned the screw.

But just after goading Blackwell’s supporters at ringside, Eubank walked onto a big right hand from his opponent, a shot which clearly gave the champion a boost.

Buoyed by that one punch, Blackwell started the sixth round on the front foot, but Eubank fought back and regained his composure after that lapse in the last.

And with Blackwell’s face in a real mess, Eubank went on the offensive in the seventh, and at one stage it looked like it could be the end for the man from Trowbridge.

He survived to take the fight into an eighth round but again came under intense pressure from Eubank, who came close to ending the bout once more as he pinned Blackwell in the corner.

A relatively quiet round nine followed, although Blackwell’s left eye was really beginning to swell up badly.

And, with 39 seconds left of the 10th round, referee Victor Loughlin, on the advice of the doctor at ringside, ended the contest to make Eubank the new champion.