Was Eubank-Benn 2 a fix or a big co-incidence?

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

Just watched Clash Of The Titans: Benn vs Eubank on youtube. Don King was due to get both the 'winner' and 'loser' under contract. King was thinking he'd get both fighters until Hearn told him, a draw means you don't have a legal hold over either man. Could Hearn and Eubank have used King in a set up? I don't think a draw is a bad decision it just seemed too convenient

[alexpaterson]

No but i bet Hearn was delighted not so much King though

[deadpan]

Benn was far too aggrieved at the end for it to be a put-on. Which it wouldn't be anyway. Who do you think would have greater influence over judges Don King or Mr Snooker Loopy?

[jonny]

Benns fight that one. Good fight but nowhere near their first encounter

[Autobarn]

too close for comfort, that fight.

unless...benn kept fouling eubank on purpose, knowing to lose a point in such a close fight could result in a draw verdict - that must be it!

[stujones]

I actually thought Eubank nicked it by a point.

[Adamj1987]

just a coincidence like diana dieing after she was gonna marry dodie and was being chased by 'paperazzi' - oooo controversial

[Autobarn]

I actually thought Eubank nicked it by a point.

i felt eubank was flailing far too much and that benn kept closing the distance and roughing him up well enough to win by 2 pts (1, minus the deduction).

not a big fan of this fight though appreciate benn's improvements. first fight, on the other hand, is a great, wild little tear up.

[stujones]

To the original question... it is something I have thought about... although with Warren working with King, I think Warren wouldn't have minded King having a slice of Eubank and Benn.

Barry Hearn on the other hand.

Barry Hearn said before the judging (which took an AGE!) was announced to Gary Newborn "too close to call, if I am going to make a call I will say a draw"! A rather odd statement to make just after to the fight.

Also the scoring of the fight was rather dodgy IMO.... Eubank was in a commanding lead on the cards at the half way point. However one of the cards, either the drawn card or the Benn card... gave the last two rounds to Benn (and he needed both) - and there is no way Benn won those rounds.

Autobarn... I kind of agree with what you are saying, compared to fight 1 Eubank was missing terribly, but I still thought he did enough for a draw and with the point deduction get the win.Benn was a little too slow getting off in rounds, I thought Benn won his rounds bigger, but Eubank won 6 of them. I liked the fight, fight 1 was tremendous though... I had Eubank commanding in the lead of that one on a replay... watching it live I thought Benn's aggression was doing well - but when watching it away from the emotions - Eubank's accuracy was awesome that night.

[Nightmare Roy]

Just watched Clash Of The Titans: Benn vs Eubank on youtube. Don King was due to get both the 'winner' and 'loser' under contract. King was thinking he'd get both fighters until Hearn told him, a draw means you don't have a legal hold over either man. Could Hearn and Eubank have used King in a set up? I don't think a draw is a bad decision it just seemed too convenient

Great docu that, got it on dvd, IMO it was a set up, i love Eubanks comment

"What a fantastic decison, almost divine intervention if you will"

[greenwoa]

I was (an still am) a huge fan of Eubank, and was dreading that fight being made. The hatred between the two would, it seemed, drive them beyond pain and exhaustion. Despite the increased mutual respect, and the tragic Watson 2 outcome, there was no likelihood that a genuine Benn vs Eubank fight would be anything less than intense.

And then came the fight!

Even before I heard about the Don King interests being conveniently scuppered by the draw, I was CONVINCED that this fight was a fix - in the worst possible way. What do I mean by that? I mean that the judges were ordered to score it a draw, the ref was always intending to deduct a point from Benn, and both fighters knew that the verdict would be a draw!

I was convinced then. I am convinced now.

Incidentally, I am a fraud investigator.

[keithmoonhangover]

Michael Nunn was at ringside and he said it was a draw before the announcement.

[jameswilson]

I remember seeing that documentary when I was about 11 years old, way before I started watching boxing. Managed to find it on youtube a few years back after remembering the name of the doc. My favourite bit was Eubank talking about his criminal teenage years,

'I had other bad habitsththththth, not thubthtanth, but thlight of hand.'

[JLP]

I had Benn edging the win but I was not taken aback by the draw and didn't think anything of it at the time.

[Kilburn]

For some reason I haven't watched the fight since the night it happened however I seem to recollect that in my mind it was a fair result, but Benn won his rounds clearer than Eubank won his, hence the controversy? Could be a load of bollex as my memory of the fight isn't that great but if true then it only serves to highlight the imperfect scoring system that we still depend on so often.

[JLP]

The most controversial moment of the evening was Nigel Kennedy's attempt at the national anthem with his electric violin.

[CiganoBoxer]

I had my Eubank autobiography signed by Chris himself in WH SMITHS , I asked him if he thought he won the the 2nd fight with Benn and he said in a real posh voice ' I did not win that battle on that night but managed to get decision ,he then smiled and said bottom line was it will always be one all to me
AS I was leaving he asked me who i thought won the 2nd fight and i told him i thought Benn low blow or not won the 2nd fight ,he then joked he wanted to give me an un signed book instead

[polecateddy]

One of my best boxing wins. I had the draw covered off and got 300 quid :)

[dondada]

Benn was my favourite fighter. I thought he won by two points and you could tell Eubank thought it was going to be one all after the final bell.

[SteveDow]

I thought Benn won it as well.

I think they both (understandably) showed each other a lot of respect but Benn was the busier fighter and for me he did enough.

Real shame there was no third fight as I'd have fancied Benn to even the score in that one as for me he was at his peak between 1992 and 1995 whilst Eubank had regressed a bit during that period, partly as a result of the Watson fight.

[ILikeBeer]

just a coincidence like diana dieing after she was gonna marry dodie and was being chased by 'paperazzi' - oooo controversial

Diana died? When did this happen? I never saw anything mentioned about is in the press.

[Ezzard]

I thought Benn won. But expected something like this. Eubank had been on the end of a number of controversial/close decisions. Both men had a belt so it made business sense for them to both keep earning.

Benn had improved since their first meeting. Eubank had not.

I felt sorry for Benn. It felt a bit like Hearns-Leonard II.

[Wrists]

I actually thought Eubank nicked it by a point.

In fairness you also called Calzaghe v Kessler a draw..............

[dondada]

I felt sorry for Benn. It felt a bit like Hearns-Leonard II.

Yes, well said

[CiganoBoxer]

I actually thought Eubank nicked it by a point.

In fairness you also called Calzaghe v Kessler a draw..............