Nigel Benn vs. Gerald McClellan Revisited

[dawudboxer]

Ok gang...I just watched this fight again, and, of course, all you can think about during the bout is what ended up happening to Gerald McClellan ( :( ). But I think there is MUCH more than meets the eye in that fight. In fact, in my opinion...


The G-Man very likely wins that fight if it's in America and/or with a different referee. There should've been no way Benn survived the first round without divine intervention. Gerald had just cracked Benn something FIERCE and had him sagging and half-conscious before he hit the ring apron. Benn beat the count fair and square, (and quite amazingly, I might add), Gerald charges from his corner once The Dark Destroyer is upright and prepared. Yet, right before he opens fire, the ref steps in the way and seperates the two for no reason! He continued to break the action, seemingly at random, for the rest of the round and to this day I think his unexplainable actions were the man things that saved Benn from a KO by 1, coupled with Benn's awesome fighting heart.

The ref, some Frenchie whose name escapes me right now, also failed to protect Gerald from Benn's frequent rabbit punches and illegal shots. Sometimes he'd warn Benn, but most of the time he'd let the two continue fighting while G-Man took powershots on the back of the head from Benn. Rabbit blows from Benn may or may not have contributed to the life-threatening brain damage McClellan developed shortly after.

Basically, it's my opinion that the referee had a clear biased towards Benn, evidenced by his failure to penalize Benn for his savage rabbit punches and headbutts (most notably in the 9th round, when Benn springs forward and gives Gerald a headbutt right in the eye without even throwing a punch) and his inexplicable desire to break McClellan's momentum almost every time the G-Man was attacking effectively.

It seemed as though this dirty offense was wearing down McClellan, and the arguement can be made that Benn's unprofessional tactics won him the fight. But just as notable is the fact that Benn landed clean, hard shots in almost every round, and landed a huuuuge right hand in the 10th round that was followed by McClellan collapsing seconds later for the first of 2 knockdowns. Gerald had feinted a right hand, and the stopped in his tracks, welcoming the booming straight right down the middle. It was the best shot landed since the 1st round, and it was why McClellan went down even though Benn missed his next two shots, and why he went down again without being tagged seriously. In fact, Ferdie Pacheco exclaimed that he thought McClellan was simply quitting.



I'll never know for sure what caused McClellan's permanent injuries; Benn's dirty-fighting, his steady flow of crunching shots, or that lone right hand bomb. But, because the knockout followed so closely after the straight right, and because of his relentless attack, and because of the fact that I happen to be a fan of his, I'll assume Benn's KO of McClellan was on the level. But I'll never be sure.



What do you think about this fight as a whole?

What do you say about McClellan's illegal punches to the back of the head that knocked Benn out of the ring in the 1st round? Watch again, the shots that knocked him temporarily unconscious were landed on the back of Benn's head, and he also hit him with illegal kidney punches. Throughout the first round he was pulling Benn around like a ragdoll which is also illegal. Had he not thrown the shots to the back of the head and the kidney's he wouldn't have had Benn hurt in the first place. So your theory that he would win in America isn't necessarily the case, as there are many refs in the states that don't allow illegal rabbit punches, kidney punches and pulling/pushing. Benn only hit to the back of the head after McClellan had made it clear that thats the type of fight he wanted. McClellan also said before the fight that he intended to put Benn in a wheelchair and after that would put his dad in a wheelchair. So are we supposed to care that McClellan is the one who ended up in a wheelchair?

[dawudboxer]

I have to admit, that when I watched the fight again recently, I came to exactly the same conclusion, something very iffy indeed was going on with the ref.

Had the ref not constantly intervened in the 1st round, Benn would never have seen the second, he was out on his feet, and the referee blatantly bought him time.

Perhaps the referee was under instruction to get a few rounds out of the fight for the sake of the promotion, the fact that McClellan was supposed to be the star, and Benn as Benn rightly stated after the fight 'they brought him here to bash me up' makes it seem highly unlikely that the referee would have been favouring Benn, but the actions of the ref would suggest otherwise.

Although I have tremendous admiration for Benn and especially his courageous efforts in that fight, but no way in gods earth should he have made it out of that 1st round.

I remember watching the fight last time, I noticed that as early as the 3rd round, Gerald began blinking uncontrollably, and I do suspect that one of the many blows he took to the back of the head MAY have contributed to this, as he hadn't really been hit with that many legal shots by this stage, as I recall from last viewing anyway.

The end result of this fight is such that i rarely like to revisit this topic, and can never count this fight in my list of greatest fights.

As I stated in my post above, the shots that put Benn out of the ring were illegal, and those are the shots that hurt him. So your theory that he wouldn't have made it out of the first if not for the ref is nonsense. Also, McClellan was illegally pushing and pulling Benn around which is what the ref was warning him about. Look at the rematch between McClellan and Julian Jackson and how he was allowed to get away with rough housing tactics that allowed him to assault Jackson and get him out in the first. Its illegal to hold your hand in your opponent's face and pummel his kidneys and club him on the back of the head.

[dawudboxer]

I'll never know for sure what caused McClellan's permanent injuries; Benn's dirty-fighting, his steady flow of crunching shots, or that lone right hand bomb. But, because the knockout followed so closely after the straight right, and because of his relentless attack, and because of the fact that I happen to be a fan of his, I'll assume Benn's KO of McClellan was on the level. But I'll never be sure.

A combination of all but I think the most telling thing was that headbutt, straight away McClellan was blinking like crazy, the ref should've noticed that and had the doc look him over.

He was blinking before that and was also blinking like that in training for the fight.

[SeanBrennan]

for me he should have had a 1st round KO, if that was anywhere but UK (and I say this as a Brit) he'd have had a win there. Who knows what would have happened health-wise had that happened.

[dawudboxer]

I just watched the fight again very closely, and it is quite different
to how I remember it.

The blinking doesn't start until very late in the fight, and is DEFINETLY
as a result of the UNITENTIONAL headbutt in the 10th round. Benn Lunges forward as he throws a wild right hook and his head makes contact with the bridge of McClellan's nose. McClellan then goes down, instantly he knows that something isn't right, and if you watch this is the point at which he starts blinking.

He isn't looking for a way out at this point, but I wonder whether the headbut didn't drive some bone upward from the bridge of the nose, because after that he keeps dabbing at the nose when he gets up.

In the next round, McClellan looks all over the place, he is on the retreat, and he goes down from the first hard shot he takes, shots he took many times earlier in the night, and he insintinctively goes down.

McClellan takes the decision to quit, because he knows that something is badly wrong inside his head, and wants to get out of the ring as soon as possible. He gets up easily and goes to his corner straight away to sit down.

What I also didn't remember is how close to winning McClellan came to winning the fight in the 8th round. Benn was in desperate trouble again, he looked so tired and weak and the literally just collapsed to the canvas.

McClellan really didn't look great in that fight, he had so few shots in his arsenal, a decent left hook, but all his power was that right hand, his jab was OK, but he had no uppercut at all, which would have been the finisher against Benn that night in that low crouch.

McClellan was an awesome puncher, but not that much else.

So you think the brain bleed occurred "definately" due to the headbutt, and not the 100 massive right hands, left hooks and uppercuts landed by Benn consistently throughout the night?

[Controversial]

I just watched the fight again very closely, and it is quite different
to how I remember it.

The blinking doesn't start until very late in the fight, and is DEFINETLY
as a result of the UNITENTIONAL headbutt in the 10th round. Benn Lunges forward as he throws a wild right hook and his head makes contact with the bridge of McClellan's nose. McClellan then goes down, instantly he knows that something isn't right, and if you watch this is the point at which he starts blinking.

He isn't looking for a way out at this point, but I wonder whether the headbut didn't drive some bone upward from the bridge of the nose, because after that he keeps dabbing at the nose when he gets up.

In the next round, McClellan looks all over the place, he is on the retreat, and he goes down from the first hard shot he takes, shots he took many times earlier in the night, and he insintinctively goes down.

McClellan takes the decision to quit, because he knows that something is badly wrong inside his head, and wants to get out of the ring as soon as possible. He gets up easily and goes to his corner straight away to sit down.

What I also didn't remember is how close to winning McClellan came to winning the fight in the 8th round. Benn was in desperate trouble again, he looked so tired and weak and the literally just collapsed to the canvas.

McClellan really didn't look great in that fight, he had so few shots in his arsenal, a decent left hook, but all his power was that right hand, his jab was OK, but he had no uppercut at all, which would have been the finisher against Benn that night in that low crouch.

McClellan was an awesome puncher, but not that much else.

So you think the brain bleed occurred "definately" due to the headbutt, and not the 100 massive right hands, left hooks and uppercuts landed by Benn consistently throughout the night?

There are reports of McClellan blinking prior to fighting Benn

[dawudboxer]

Yep, and in my video I've posted a link to I show him blinking in training

[Controversial]

Interview with Lisa McClellan (Geralds sister) talking about what Kevin Lueshing allegedly said.

[gilgamesh]

I think the main thing that contributed to the severity of McClellan's brain injury was severe dehydration causing the damage to his brain to be worsened. The punches to the back of the head from Benn probably didn't help, but I think there were multiple factors, and the severe dehydration and weight draining surely is one of them.

[jamesmcdonnell]

for me he should have had a 1st round KO, if that was anywhere but UK (and I say this as a Brit) he'd have had a win there. Who knows what would have happened health-wise had that happened.

Totally agree. The ref did everything he could to prevent McClellan from finishing him off as well.

[MightyWarrior]

Shocking to hear that from Gerald’s sister Lisa in above clip, although to many not surprising. I think it’s pretty obvious what happened. But the fact that this is long seen as one of the most sensational performances by a Brit boxer and one of the most infamous fights in British boxing history, casts a massive shadow over what happened, I mean, it’s hard to process…a very uncomfortable “truth”.

[Steveh583]

I just watched the fight again very closely, and it is quite different
to how I remember it.

The blinking doesn't start until very late in the fight, and is DEFINETLY
as a result of the UNITENTIONAL headbutt in the 10th round. Benn Lunges forward as he throws a wild right hook and his head makes contact with the bridge of McClellan's nose. McClellan then goes down, instantly he knows that something isn't right, and if you watch this is the point at which he starts blinking.

He isn't looking for a way out at this point, but I wonder whether the headbut didn't drive some bone upward from the bridge of the nose, because after that he keeps dabbing at the nose when he gets up.

In the next round, McClellan looks all over the place, he is on the retreat, and he goes down from the first hard shot he takes, shots he took many times earlier in the night, and he insintinctively goes down.

McClellan takes the decision to quit, because he knows that something is badly wrong inside his head, and wants to get out of the ring as soon as possible. He gets up easily and goes to his corner straight away to sit down.

What I also didn't remember is how close to winning McClellan came to winning the fight in the 8th round. Benn was in desperate trouble again, he looked so tired and weak and the literally just collapsed to the canvas.

McClellan really didn't look great in that fight, he had so few shots in his arsenal, a decent left hook, but all his power was that right hand, his jab was OK, but he had no uppercut at all, which would have been the finisher against Benn that night in that low crouch.

McClellan was an awesome puncher, but not that much else.

i dont think there is a separate bone in the nose, only lots of cartilage and the bridge attached to the skull. the whole bone shooting up the nose thing is a myth.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I just watched the fight again very closely, and it is quite different
to how I remember it.

The blinking doesn't start until very late in the fight, and is DEFINETLY
as a result of the UNITENTIONAL headbutt in the 10th round. Benn Lunges forward as he throws a wild right hook and his head makes contact with the bridge of McClellan's nose. McClellan then goes down, instantly he knows that something isn't right, and if you watch this is the point at which he starts blinking.

He isn't looking for a way out at this point, but I wonder whether the headbut didn't drive some bone upward from the bridge of the nose, because after that he keeps dabbing at the nose when he gets up.

In the next round, McClellan looks all over the place, he is on the retreat, and he goes down from the first hard shot he takes, shots he took many times earlier in the night, and he insintinctively goes down.

McClellan takes the decision to quit, because he knows that something is badly wrong inside his head, and wants to get out of the ring as soon as possible. He gets up easily and goes to his corner straight away to sit down.

What I also didn't remember is how close to winning McClellan came to winning the fight in the 8th round. Benn was in desperate trouble again, he looked so tired and weak and the literally just collapsed to the canvas.

McClellan really didn't look great in that fight, he had so few shots in his arsenal, a decent left hook, but all his power was that right hand, his jab was OK, but he had no uppercut at all, which would have been the finisher against Benn that night in that low crouch.

McClellan was an awesome puncher, but not that much else.

i dont think there is a separate bone in the nose, only lots of cartilage and the bridge attached to the skull. the whole bone shooting up the nose thing is a myth.

Yeah, you're right there, not sure wtf I was going on about.

[Controversial]

Shocking to hear that from Gerald’s sister Lisa in above clip, although to many not surprising. I think it’s pretty obvious what happened. But the fact that this is long seen as one of the most sensational performances by a Brit boxer and one of the most infamous fights in British boxing history, casts a massive shadow over what happened, I mean, it’s hard to process…a very uncomfortable “truth”.

Yeah I’m surprised it’s not had more of an official response from the people named.

[TheLeprechaun]

Who doesn't think Benn was on roids? Like seriously?

McClellan was dire the in the fight and only won the rounds he dropped Benn in. Benn was dire too.

It's well known that something was wrong with McClellan after that Jackson 1 fight. He was hurt by a jab from a 147 pound fighter in sparring afterward. McClellan was given brain damage in the first fight with Julian Jackson but only had 1 round blowouts since. McClellan was poor defensively but his offence was his defence and it was an extremely formidable offence. As I always say about McClellan, I believe he was near unbeatable on the night of that first Jackson fight. He simply was impossible to knock out that night as he took tremendous flush punches from Jackson for the bulk of 5 rounds and came through them and blasted Jackson out with a terrifying combination. The accuracy of the combination was awesome to see. On that night nobody is knocking him out and there is no doubt he will be landing some punches. I'd probably only give Toney a chance of beating him. Toney was able to handle him well in sparring, you can see the footage online. Despite McClellan having a tremendous right hand, Toney is comfortable with a hands down defence, rolling and ducking as he does.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Who doesn't think Benn was on roids? Like seriously?

McClellan was dire the in the fight and only won the rounds he dropped Benn in. Benn was dire too.

It's well known that something was wrong with McClellan after that Jackson 1 fight. He was hurt by a jab from a 147 pound fighter in sparring afterward. McClellan was given brain damage in the first fight with Julian Jackson but only had 1 round blowouts since. McClellan was poor defensively but his offence was his defence and it was an extremely formidable offence. As I always say about McClellan, I believe he was near unbeatable on the night of that first Jackson fight. He simply was impossible to knock out that night as he took tremendous flush punches from Jackson for the bulk of 5 rounds and came through them and blasted Jackson out with a terrifying combination. The accuracy of the combination was awesome to see. On that night nobody is knocking him out and there is no doubt he will be landing some punches. I'd probably only give Toney a chance of beating him. Toney was able to handle him well in sparring, you can see the footage online. Despite McClellan having a tremendous right hand, Toney is comfortable with a hands down defence, rolling and ducking as he does.

Yeah, it sounds rather like Ibeabuchi v Tua - whilst it's impressive being able to eat punches from a world class puncher, it's not a very good idea.

Jones Jr would have ruined McClellan at 168, without a doubt. 160 too, but he only had a brief tenure there.

[Controversial]

Who doesn't think Benn was on roids? Like seriously?

I guess it’s one thing some people having suspicions but someone claiming Benn’s agent at the time confirmed it to them is more damning. Of course it’s all third hand so nothing to say it’s true and I can’t see Lueshing admitting he told her that.

[dookus]

Shocking to hear that from Gerald’s sister Lisa in above clip, although to many not surprising. I think it’s pretty obvious what happened. But the fact that this is long seen as one of the most sensational performances by a Brit boxer and one of the most infamous fights in British boxing history, casts a massive shadow over what happened, I mean, it’s hard to process…a very uncomfortable “truth”.

Yeah I’m surprised it’s not had more of an official response from the people named.

I vaguely recall Benn fielding accusations about taking steroids during that time with something like "if you know me, that's not what I'm about", which isn't very convincing. Of course, steroids were not exactly rarely used among boxers of the 90s

[KiwiRider]

Who doesn't think Benn was on roids? Like seriously?

I guess it’s one thing some people having suspicions but someone claiming Benn’s agent at the time confirmed it to them is more damning. Of course it’s all third hand so nothing to say it’s true and I can’t see Lueshing admitting he told her that.

Having suspicions is enough for doubt

[gilgamesh]

If Suspicions is enough then anytime a fighter you like loses you can claim the other guy was on PED's.

[Controversial]

Who doesn't think Benn was on roids? Like seriously?

I guess it’s one thing some people having suspicions but someone claiming Benn’s agent at the time confirmed it to them is more damning. Of course it’s all third hand so nothing to say it’s true and I can’t see Lueshing admitting he told her that.

Having suspicions is enough, and the failed tests later on in my view confirmed it enough. You don't suddenly start cheating, you cheat until your caught.
The difference in Benn's physique and stamina, not to mention his overtly aggressive behavior seal it for me.

I didn’t know he failed tests, what did he fail on?

[Steveh583]

given the company he was keeping at the time, i wouldnt be at all surprised.

[Taansend]

Massive Benn fan here. Went to several fights, even saw him fairly early in his career (him wearing West Ham didn't hurt ).

I remember an interview with him at around the time of this fight where he's describing all the pills he's taking on a daily basis to help him be a peak athlete.

He was defo on something, in my humble, ignorant opinion. Whether he knew the extent of what he was taking is another matter. I feel the same way about him as I do Pacquiao. Both on something, both probably knew but I don;t think they intentionally set out saying "I want PEDs". More likely a trusted camp member. But in the back of their mind they knew.

I wouldn't have a clue now, let alone as a young fighter from London in the mid 90s. I'm from a similar background to Benn. You didn't question people with 'medical knowledge'. There were those with knowledge & then the rest of us. He couldn't grab his phone & have access to ALL KNOWLEDGE like we do now.

I saw a clip of Mcclellans sister saying that Kevin Lueshing told her Benn was on PEDs. That shocked me. I had no idea Kevin was that involved in Benns career in 1994/95.

Lastly, if Mcclellans old trainer (the one in the sailor hat) is telling the truth about Gerald taping dogs mouths shut so his other fighting dogs could practice ripping them apart then I have zero fornicating sympathy. Sorry.

[TheLeprechaun]

The hype around the fight still does shock me when watching it back. Can anyone give McClellan any rounds other than the ones where he drops Benn? He looks awful and probably got hurt early and I thought Benn looks awful too. Somehow the fight is hyped as this mega classic but McClellan looked a shell of himself and only won two rounds for me, the first and the eighth. I actually couldn't believe it when I sat down and scored the fight due to all of the hype around the fight. It's one of those fights where the hype overshadows what actually happened. Ali was comfortably beating Foreman for me until the KO yet that is hyped as some miracle comeback from almost being KO'd rope a doping. Fury and Wlad both did nothing and the fight could have gone either way but a Fury masterclass 12-0 is how it's remembered.

And in my opinion there was a good reason why Benn refused to do a post fight drug test which is very obvious.

[MasterG]

Been watching a YouTube clip of McLellans sister saying that Benns trainer had admitted to her that Benn was juiced up. He missed the drugs testing because he also collapsed and was taken to hospital.

I'm not not sure I want to believe that story though as I rated Benn back in the day