Boxing: Wright's brother retires

The brother of Carl Wright, who remains critically ill in hospital after a championship fight on Saturday, has vowed he will give up the sport.

Paul Wright watched his younger brother challenge for the British light welterweight title on the same bill as Naseem Hamed and Chris Eubank in the Sheffield Arena.

After losing on points to Mark Winters, the 28-year-old collapsed while driving back to Merseyside with his trainer, Colin Moorcroft.

Surgeons at Walton Hospital's neurology unit operated to remove a blood clot on his brain and a spokesman yesterday described the boxer as "critically ill".

Paul, a middleweight, said: "I will never box again. I couldn't put our family through this kind of pain again.

Paul lost a World Boxing Organisation Inter-Continental title challenge earlier this year and said: "I didn't want to retire on a loss but that's it for me now."

Both Paul and Carl, who has been dubbed "The Wildcat", had been pupils at Liverpool's Campion High School and started their boxing careers at Salisbury Amateur Boxing Club. They made their professional debuts in the ring in 1989.

Carl had been preparing for Saturday night's bout in a caravan in Wales. It was his first fight since losing the European title to Denmark's Soren Sondergaard on points almost a year ago.

Carl's wife, who is seven weeks pregnant, was monitoring his progress as he remained critically ill on a life support machine.