Boxer Scott Westgarth died hours after the biggest victory of his career, an inquest has heard.
The light heavyweight, from Prudhoe in Northumberland , wanted to walk to the ambulance after concerns were raised following his 10-round victory over Dec Spelman in Doncaster in February 2018, a coroner was told.
His trainer Glyn Rhodes was in tears as he recalled travelling with his fighter to Doncaster Royal Infirmary and how his condition suddenly deteriorated en route.
An inquest into the 31-year-old's death, which started in Doncaster on Monday, heard how a CT scan at the hospital revealed a large bleed on his brain.
He was transferred to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, but died later.
Mr Rhodes struggled with his emotions as he described how Mr Westgarth was in good spirits after "he'd just won the biggest fight of his career" .
The hearing heard how the boxer took part in a post-fight interview before he was taken to his room, where he complained of not feeling well.
A doctor was summoned and paramedics arrived to take him to hospital for checks.
Mr Rhodes said his fighter did not want to go out of the Doncaster Dome venue on a stretcher.
He said: "He had just won. He didn't want to be going out on a stretcher.
"He wanted to bask in the glory. He wanted to walk out.
"To be aware of that, he must have been sound of mind. He was alright."
But the trainer described how Mr Westgarth's condition deteriorated in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Robyn Smith, the British Boxing Board of Control's chief inspector for the central area, said it was a "long, 10-round, hard fight".
Mr Smith said he was at ringside and had no concerns following his pre-fight checks.
He told Doncaster coroner Nicola Mundy that Mr Westgarth was "coherent" when he saw him after the fight.
"He was fatigued," he told the hearing.
"You could tell he'd done 10 hard rounds."
Mr Smith explained that the choice of which hospital a boxer is taken to in a medical situation was a clinical decision for the doctors and paramedics at the scene.
The inquest heard that Mr Westgarth, from Prudhoe, Northumberland, died from complications arising from a blood clot on the brain.
The inquest is expected to last for five days.
