Former British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell has awoken from his coma after undergoing surgery to reduce swelling on his brain.
The 26-year-old retired this year after a brutal fight with Chris Eubank Jr in March after he collapsed at the end of the bout.
He had surgery afterwards to relieve swelling on his brain and made a full recovery. He retired from boxing but was convinced to take up training and mentoring of other fighters.
However, Blackwell took part in a sparring session in November and became ill, before having surgery again.
The fighter and trainer involved in the sparring session, Hasan Karkardi and Liam Wilkins, that injured Blackwell again, have since been suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control who will investigate the incident in January.
Blackwell's father, John, spoke to The Wiltshire Times saying: "We’re all absolutely delighted. We’ve been hoping he would get to this stage but didn’t think it would be for another few months yet.
"He’s out of intensive care and has been put in a new ward in his own room. Even nurses are surprised at how he’s recovered over the past week.
"There’s still a long road ahead, though, and he’ll need another operation sometime next year to replace the part of his skull which is missing, but we’re just so happy to see him smiling again," he added.
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