British boxing chief Robert Smith was left “sickened” on Saturday night after former British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell was hospitalised during a sparring session last week.

Blackwell had retired from competitive boxing earlier this year after recovering from being put into an induced coma following March’s fight against Chris Eubank Jnr, where he collapsed shortly after being stopped.

The 26-year-old was found to have suffered a bleed on the skull following that fight but woke without requiring an operation and has made encouraging progress since.

Although Blackwell had his boxer’s licence removed by the authority following his ordeal, he retained a trainer’s licence.

A report on the Daily Telegraph website said Blackwell had under gone a surgical procedure following the sparring session.

And Smith said that it was “beyond belief” that Blackwell was in the ring after doctors “saved his life.”

“We understand that Blackwell was sparring sometime this week and he has undergone a procedure. We don’t know exactly what the procedure was yet.

“We have spoken to a number of people about this and we will be putting the full facts together.

“What we understand is that Nick Blackwell sparred, he was taken ill and taken to hospital where he is in a stable condition.

“He no longer has a boxer’s licence but he does have a trainer’s licence, which is a completely different thing. He should not have been boxing.

“I’m sickened by it. It’s a very tough sport and the doctors here did a wonderful job to save his life. The doctors at hospital saved his life and kept him going.

“He made a remarkable recovery and for somebody to go and do what he’s done, for what I thought was a very sensible young man, is just beyond belief.”