Thursday 19 May 2016 00:18, UK
David Haye hopes Saturday's fight with Arnold Gjergjaj will raise over £50,000 for retired middleweight Nick Blackwell.
Blackwell, 25, will never again fight having in March collapsed after his defeat by Chris Eubank Jnr, when it was discovered he had suffered bleeding on the skull and spent the following week in an induced coma.
He has since made an impressive recovery, but before he was brought out of his coma Haye pledged to donate to him 10 per cent of ticket sales from Saturday's fight at London's O2 Arena against Gjergjaj, and is optimistic Blackwell - who will also commentate on Saturday - will receive a considerable sum.
"I'm not sure how much it will be but I've been aiming to get at least £50,000, that would be a nice lump to help him move on," said Haye, 35, whose fight against Gjergjaj is the second of the comeback that began with January's first-round stoppage of Mark de Mori.
"He will get it probably a few weeks after the fight when the money comes in from the O2 Arena. Also, we've got Nick doing some commentary work as well so he will be down at the fight.
"I had a good chat with him [on Tuesday]. He's in good spirits and sounds as sharp as a tack. I was worried about how he was going to be but he sounds better than ever. It's really good knowing he's coming to the fight to do a bit of commentary.
"It's good that he's getting back out there because we haven't seen much of him since the event."
The finest run of Blackwell's career came while Haye was absent with the shoulder injury that threatened his own.
During that time, the middleweight transformed his reputation by winning the British title he twice successfully defended, but it was through his sparring sessions with Haye's friends Carl Froch and George Groves that Blackwell truly came to his attention.
"I became aware of him because I heard about the gym sessions he had done with Carl Froch and George Groves, both of them said, 'This guy is an absolute handful, he just walks through anything'," said Haye.
"When you get world-class fighters telling me about this guy, who is a middleweight, and doing what he has been doing to them, his name sticks out.
"Fortunately the British Board of Control, with their stringent medical stipulations and preventative measures for long-term injuries, they've really stepped up [with Blackwell].
"He's in perfect health now. If this same situation had happened 20 years ago, we don't know what state he'd be in but it's really good to see that boxing is that safe.
"That was probably one of the worst injuries you can get in a ring and now a few weeks later he is 100 per cent fine and feels like nothing has happened. It's really nice to see."
