History of tragedy in the ring

THESE are the deaths and most serious injuries in British boxing over the past six decades.

Featherweight Lynn James is recorded as the first British boxer to have died following a fight, in 1964, aged 21.

Mick Pinkney, 22, died after a knock-out by Jim Moore in Leeds in 1972. The super-lightweight choked on his own blood.

Johnny Owen, 24, died in hospital in 1980, weeks after his bantamweight fight with Mexican Lupe Pintor left him unconscious. It was found the Welsh-born boxer had an unusually delicate skull.

Steve Watt, 27, the super-welterweight from Glasgow, died in March 1986 following a fight with Rocky Kelly. He had sustained brain damage over a long period of time.

Mark Goult, 47, suffered a brain haemorrhage following a fight with Danny Porter in his home town of Norwich in 1990. The bantamweight was confined to a wheelchair for years.

Michael Watson, 51, needed six brain operations after he was punched during a rematch against Chris Eubank in September 1991 at White Hart Lane. The middleweight fighter spent 40 days in a coma and several years in a wheelchair.

Bradley Stone, 23, collapsed hours after a fight against Richie Wenton in London in 1994. The super-bantamweight was rushed to hospital where surgeons attempted to remove a huge blood clot on his brain, but could not save him.

Scottish fighter James Murray, 25, died two days after his bantamweight bout against Drew Docherty in October 1995. He suffered a seizure in the ring after sustaining a bleed to the brain.

Nick Blackwell, 25, was put in an induced coma to drain a bleed on the brain caused by his fight with Chris Eubank Jnr in March 2016. The middleweight from Wiltshire collapsed after an abnormal swelling appeared over his left eye.

Mike Towell, 25, from Dundee, was fatally injured on September 29, 2016, during his welterweight fight against Dale Evans in Glasgow.