Sheffield Boxing: One year on - how courageous boxer Connor Coghill survived brain bleed

Leeds' featherweight Hopey Price had stopped Hull opponent Connor Coghill in the 12th and final round of a British eliminator and WBA Continental title fight.

Coghill had been decked once in the sixth round, once in the 11th, and twice in the 12th.

But the fans rose to acclaim his courage and resilience. He had gone out on his shield.

However, there was a price to pay.

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Coghill was discovered to have sustained a bleed on the brain, a potentially life-threatening injury. His boxing career was over, but his life and faculties were saved.

Today, Coghill relived the fight and its aftermath, one year on.

He had been fighting on the Matchroom undercard of Leigh Wood v Josh Warrington at Sheffield, a bill which included South Yorkshire campaigners Terri Harper and Junaid Bostan.

The Hull southpaw, then managed and trained by Doncaster's Stefy Bull, recalled: "Running up to the fight I had enjoyed a great camp.

"Sparring was great, my weight was perfect.

"I had caught Covid a week before the fight, so my camp had to end a few days early, but I tested negative on the Tuesday before the fight and I felt great on the night. I don't think Covid played a part at all."

Bob Williams, the referee, stopped the bout in the 12th.

"It was a hard fight, any 12-rounder is but I'd previously believed I would beat him," said the 29-year-old.

"Everybody else had expected me to get stopped early, but I believed in myself that I would give a good account of myself on the night."

After withstanding a barrage of punches, he remembered suddenly finding that "every little shot, ones that wouldn't normally affect me" were debilitating blows.

He felt his legs wobbling before the official stepped in.

"Afterwards, I had a bit of headache but only very light, I went to the fair at Hull three days later and also an amateur boxing show and they say if you have a bleed on the brain you shouldn't go places with loud noises and bright lights.

"But I didn't know I had one at that time.

"Then I went to Blackpool with my family - which was where things started turning to the worse.

"The headaches were getting stronger. I went round the zoo with the family and when we got back to the hotel I couldn't handle it any more.

"I'd never had a headache like it; it was unbearable.

"I went to the Blackpool Hospital and they admitted me for 8-9 days, telling me I had a bleed.

"My instant reaction was: 'I can't fight again' and that hurt me more than anything.

"I was just getting to where I wanted to be (he was unbeaten) and I'd worked so hard for.

"Now everything I'd done for 15-20 years had gone.

"At Blackpool Hospital they kept me under close supervision, I had to avoid light and loud noises, so I spent a week lying in a bed in darkness while my brain absorbed the blood.

"The staff were very good, they looked after me.

"They contacted Preston where they have a brain ward to find out if they needed to operate or not. That's when it really sunk in. I thought: 'I might not be me when I come out of here."

Thankfully, Connor's pain subsided and the burst blood vessel healed without the need to go for surgery.

"I was a bit unsteady on my legs for a few days but now my health is fine," he says.

"I am lucky in some respects and unlucky in others. I have seen people in tougher fights than I was in.

"Still to this day, I don't think I did anything wrong (in the build-up.) I did everything right in the way I prepared myself."

Coghill is now a successful Hull gym owner (Box Club) and coaches local prospect Ted Jackson.

"I am very happy now, it is great to be able to do what you love and build a career and I am very fortunate to have my own gym and the clients I have.

"I want to get Ted on the big stage on TV shows like I was.

"There were times I hated boxing because of what happened to me, I supposed it was bitterness because I couldn't do it again but I probably love it more now than when I was fighting.

"I am fortunate that I have got a career that I don't see as a job..."