Nigel Benn V Steve Collins 1

[mickey1975]

Lads, I don't really read too much into the books of the major stars. I seriously doubt he put a bet of anything like 40 (or now 100) grand on and i'm pretty sure the fall out with DeFreitas runs a lot deeper than the Collins fight.

[orbtastic]

Agreed on both points.

Dirs is a poor journalist.

Benn's "autobiography" is terrible, it's badly written (despite being Ghost written) and full of errors. I put little stock in biogs but I remember reading that he had to have something like 50% of the original content redacted.

[stevieb_8006]

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1996/One-L ... 7c7d1840fa


http://www.nobsboxing.com/forum/viewtop ... 41&start=0

second link he says it himself. don't know why he'd lie about it this far into retirement.

[Wrists]

A guy who went to war with an animal like McClellan, went over to the states and knocked the shit out of out de Witt and Barkley and fought Eubanks twice has nothing to prove to anyone.

Bizarre thread

[Mimmy]

A guy who went to war with an animal like McClellan, went over to the states and knocked the poo out of out de Witt and Barkley and fought Eubanks twice has nothing to prove to anyone.

Bizarre thread

What do you mean bizarre thread? The whole point of the thread was his 2 losses to Collins. I think we all know Nigel Benn was a fornicating legend who didn't dodge no one. But the end was unlike him, don't you agree?

[polecateddy]

I remember watching the two Colllins fights. I suspect Benn was savvy enough to play up on a tweaked ankle to guarantee another big pay day in the rematch. He had a few fleeting moments in the rematch, but again retired a little meekly. I didn't really mind as he had a great career. A case of no hard feelings.

[Bricks]

The 40k thing, I meant.

The story/line that came out immediately after the fight is that DeFreitas knew the results of a brain scan which had a shadow on it but Benn did not, but they both knew he had little left after the McClellan fight but had an agreement that if his corner felt he was taking too much punishment that they would stop it. Now that's what happened. He didn't theatrically roll around pretending to be KO'd, there was a brief conflab, Benn looked disconsolate, slumps down and I think you can even hear DeFreitas say something and then they call it off straight away by signalling to the ref.

It was one-sided in the last 3 rounds or so but hardly an Ali-Holmes esque beating.

I've never managed to find anything in print about the scan, although I'm convinced that I read something at the time. I used to have a wedge of clippings from the papers of the day but someone threw them away (along with all my ticket stubs...). I understand that there was also some fall-out between the two after the fight.

His wife was also a major factor in his decision to retire.

What do you make of benn winking to his corner suspiciously in the clinched with Collins just before they stopped it?

[Bricks]

Collins himself said "tonight it was a different nigel benn he was giving me all I could handle I thought the fight was even" .benn fought very well the second fight he rocked Collins and even tho the last round was the only clearvonecagainst him I think mentally he had just had enough he didn't quit but he didn't fancy another Eubanks or McClellan type war over 12. The man really was mentally finished after malinga

[Mimmy]

The 40k thing, I meant.

The story/line that came out immediately after the fight is that DeFreitas knew the results of a brain scan which had a shadow on it but Benn did not, but they both knew he had little left after the McClellan fight but had an agreement that if his corner felt he was taking too much punishment that they would stop it. Now that's what happened. He didn't theatrically roll around pretending to be KO'd, there was a brief conflab, Benn looked disconsolate, slumps down and I think you can even hear DeFreitas say something and then they call it off straight away by signalling to the ref.

It was one-sided in the last 3 rounds or so but hardly an Ali-Holmes esque beating.

I've never managed to find anything in print about the scan, although I'm convinced that I read something at the time. I used to have a wedge of clippings from the papers of the day but someone threw them away (along with all my ticket stubs...). I understand that there was also some fall-out between the two after the fight.

His wife was also a major factor in his decision to retire.

What do you make of benn winking to his corner suspiciously in the clinched with Collins just before they stopped it?

I guess onlt they will know but generally its a sign of 'im ok' or you never know it might have been benn saying 'ive had enough'

[jameswilson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z_KJTj3Dsg

[thepocketrocket]

Even Collins (one of my heroes) said it wasn't the real Nigel in there that night. Collins at that stage was just physically better than him, so Nigel needed to go to the well and either couldn't/wouldn't.

That doesn't mean that if Benn had been on song he would have just walked through Collins like some drunken Irishman...something that is missed by some of the Benn fans

[palooka]

Collins was very deceptive, he looked like he was just a strong man but he had a lot of craft about him, he knew what he was doing and could negate a good fighters best abilities and work them over well. Is he still talking of coming back? Hope not, let bygones be bygones.