THE family of a boxer who died as a result of his injuries is throwing its support behind his opponent who took part in the fatal fight.

Adam Westgarth, the brother of Prudhoe boxer Scott Westgarth, has opened his heart about the pain his family experienced when the 31-year-old lost his life following a bout with Dec Spelman. While Scott won the fight, he fell ill hours later and died in hospital.

This week, Adam revealed he and his family had grown close to Spelman and he was travelling down to London this weekend to support the 26-year-old fighter as he participated in the Ultimate Boxxer event.

In the same week that Spelman spoke to Radio 5 Live of his gratitude to the family for helping him through the challenging time following Scott’s death, Adam said he was touched by the boxer’s tributes to his late brother, which included having Scott’s name stitched on to his boxing shorts and his initials on his t-shirts.

Adam said: “There was anger at first after Scott’s death, but I got in touch with Dec and asked if he would meet me and my dad to clear the air. We wanted to tell him there were no hard feelings.

“There were two competitive fighters in the ring that night doing what they loved, and no one ever thought this would happen.

“Dec said he wanted to be respectful and said he wouldn’t fight again if the family didn’t want him to. But we wish him well and want him to do well for himself, not just because he is fighting in memory of Scott. It’s nice that he wants to do that, but he needs to do it for himself and I believe he can go on to challenge for titles.”

Saturday will be the second time Adam will watch Spelman in the ring since the traumatic night.

He watched as Spelman returned to the ring by defeating Jindrich Velecky in June.

Adam said: “I watched him in his comeback fight and that was hard because I was just getting flashbacks of that night when things went so wrong.

“I managed to smile and congratulate Dec though, and we want him to know we are supporting him because he was there for us too.”

Speaking to 5 Live, Spelman spoke of how thankful he was to receive the support of the Westgarths.

He said: “There could have been resentment, but luckily they have been understanding. I really thank them for that. The way I look at it he beat me and so anything I go on to do, he potentially could have done as well.”