Nick Blackwell thanks David Haye for 'amazing' support

Retired boxer Nick Blackwell has revealed the extent of David Haye's support since he was forced to quit the ring.

Injuries sustained in defeat to Chris Eubank Jr in March saw Blackwell placed in an induced coma and ended a career which took him as far as the British middleweight title.

Haye pledged 10 per cent of ticket sales from his next fight to help Blackwell adjust to retirement, a sum which eventually surpassed all bar one of the 25-year-old's boxing purses.

And the former heavyweight world champion's support has gone beyond the financial.

Blackwell said: "It's amazing, he's been so good to me. I didn't know him before at all, but he's texting me every other day, seeing how I am. He even 'facetimed' me from Miami.

"I didn't know him but I did some work in his gym - when he wasn't there - with George Groves and Shane [McGuigan, Haye's trainer].

"I'm so lucky, it's given me a real start and I'm really grateful to him. It's more than I got paid for any fight except the last one, against Eubank.

"He's also spoken to me about commentary, and me working as a commentator on his next fight. He's offered to help me find investments, looked into help-to-buy schemes and that, and recommended mortgage advisors.

"I didn't know anything about what he'd been saying until people told me when I woke up. But the whole thing has surprised me. It's set me up nicely; others who have had to retire haven't been as lucky."