MICHAEL WATSON believes Nick Blackwell’s injuries in the ring were avoidable and has suggested that referees should pay close attention to a fighter's eyes during a bout.

Blackwell collapsed shortly after his British middleweight title defeat to Chris Eubank Jnr at Wembley Arena last week, but woke from an induced coma at St Mary’s Hospital in London on Saturday and was speaking to friends and family on Sunday.

The fight was stopped in the 10th round after the ringside doctor advised Victor Loughlin, the referee, that Blackwell was unable to see through his left eye. The 25-year-old was found to have suffered a bleed on the skull.

Chris Eubank Snr criticised the referee's handling of his son's fight and Watson, who spent 40 days in an induced coma and had six operations to remove a blood clot from his brain after a 1991 world title contest with Eubank Snr, was also critical.

"I looked into his eyes and saw he was dazed,” said Watson. “I was shouting for the referee to intervene.

"Referees should look at a fighter and work out whether they're hurt or not by looking through their eyes. The referee didn't look into his eyes and intervene.

"If the fight had been stopped earlier, I do truly believe all this could have been prevented."

Watson, former Commonwealth middleweight champion and three-time world title challenger, knows just how much the support of the boxing community will help in Blackwell’s recovery.

"The unity of people around him will now be mentally beneficial to him,” he said. "He will need his close friends and family to be around at this stage to support him and be his backbone.

“He needs the help of others around him to help him move on in life.

"Look at me as an example. Life is a precious thing. He's got his senses and he knows exactly what he's doing.

"I've achieved a lot more in my life than when I was in the boxing system. I've met the Queen and so many icons.

"Since the accident, I've walked marathons and raised half a million for teenagers with cancer."

Eubank Jnr has posted a message on social networking site, Instagram, to ask to visit Blackwell in hospital whilst fellow middleweight Adam Etches started a crowdfunding campaign for him and David Haye has pledged to donate 10 per cent of ticket sales from his next fight.

A host of prominent boxing figures have also voiced their support for the 25-year-old Englishman.

Gennady Golovkin, the feared WBA and IBF middleweight champion from Kazakhstan who fights out of the US, wrote: "Great to hear Nick Blackwell is awake and with family and friends."

Enzo Maccarinelli, who through working with Blackwell's trainer Gary Lockett is one of his stablemates, added: "I'm absolutely thrilled that the warrior has woken up from his coma. True warrior."