BoxRec

BACK THEN THERE WERE FAR MORE BOXING FANS IN AMERICA AND THEY RESPECTED BENN ALOT FOR HIS STYLE ND WERE EXPECTING MCLELLAN TO DO JOBS ON RJJ AND JAMES TONEY ND EMERGE AS THE BEST GUY, TO MORE REGULAR FANS IN AMERICA (ND MUCH MORE REGULAR FANS IN BRIT) BENN/GMAN WAS A MUCH BIGGER FIGHT

NOW, BOXING HAS LOST ALOT OF ZAP OVER THERE ND ITS ONLY REALLY THOSE WHO HAVE HBO IN THEIR HOMES OR CAN BE BOTHERED TO BUY A PPV

WHILE JOE IS NO NIGEL BENN IN BRITAIN, IS HE...

MightyWarrior wrote: He'd likely have beaten McClellan too.

I don't see how. No chance he stops gerald, and no way sloppy joe can take gman's murderous bombs for 12 rounds. Calzaghe would have his patchy moments in the fight and mcclellan could knock out anybody. calzaghe would show a lot of heart for sure but mikkel kessler is no Gman.

McClellan would have probably knocked Calzaghe out if they met in their peaks - Joes got a leaky defence, and even his chins wouldnt have stood up to McClellans punches.

dr_devious wrote:McClellan would have probably knocked Calzaghe out if they met in their peaks - Joes got a leaky defence, and even his chins wouldnt have stood up to McClellans punches.

Calzaghe would school McClellan.

McClellan was too In love with power.

Riddick Blowe wrote:

MightyWarrior wrote: He'd likely have beaten McClellan too.

I don't see how. No chance he stops gerald, and no way sloppy joe can take gman's murderous bombs for 12 rounds. Calzaghe would have his patchy moments in the fight and mcclellan could knock out anybody. calzaghe would show a lot of heart for sure but mikkel kessler is no Gman.

Calzaghe has a better chin than Benn and Benn was able to take the Gmans punches.

dr_devious wrote:McClellan would have probably knocked Calzaghe out if they met in their peaks - Joes got a leaky defence, and even his chins wouldnt have stood up to McClellans punches.

What a fekking moronic comment.

Who did McClellan ever beat at 168?

Calzaghe's chin is rock solid, he's taken massive punches from big raw boned 168 lbers, McClellan was really no more than a light middleweight.

I have to agree. Nobody could deny that McClellen hit like a truck, but if Benn could survive his shots, I dare say Calzaghe could. He'd probably have avoided a hell of a lot more than Benn did as well. I loved Benn, but Calzaghe, for all his faults, is one hell of a fighter. I think he would have boxed rings around Benn.

McClellen Benn

Calzaghe Kessler will be remembered as a good boxing match between two good boxers.

McClellen Benn was a night of raw savagery, heroism and tragedy that became an emblematic landmark in boxing history.

Chris Eubank said that Benn became a legend in his own lifetime for winning the fight he could not win and I agree, if they (Benn/McClellen) had fought 10 times I would pick McClellen to win every single fight by early stoppage.

Benn found a new level, for one time only, and performed a miracle.

Calzaghe against McClellan would be like lamb to the slaughter. I don't see what Joe could do with him.

McClellan was rangier, had better movement and they have similar defences, but Calzaghe squares up with his chin in the air

Benn's Tactics and Technique beat McClellan just as much as his heart. He was ducking and weaving his way under McClellan's long punches and coming up with his perfect hooks and crosses. Stylistically, Benn was all wrong for him, but it's strange that no one seemed to gather that (me included) beforehand...

McClellan was a natural middleweight, his only true test at super middle was against Benn, and he lost.

He was also an easy fighter to hit, not that I think Calzaghe would stop him, but Calzaghe would have enough to take a comfortable points decision.

McClellan was not a great boxer.

Twinkle Toes wrote:McClellan was a natural middleweight, his only true test at super middle was against Benn, and he lost.

He was also an easy fighter to hit, not that I think Calzaghe would stop him, but Calzaghe would have enough to take a comfortable points decision.

McClellan was not a great boxer.

True. McClelland and Lacy would have similar reps if Lacy hadn't run into Joe. Same thing would have happened to McClelland if he had run into Joe instead. Kessler is just on an entirely different overall skill-level.

If you can't see the difference between Lacy and McClellan you really don't know boxing.

And it was Benn's freakish heart and will to prevail that got him through against Gman, he was out on his feet for much of the fight, should have been stopped in the 1st and 8th and the fact that he was constantly throwing back, fuelled by the partisan crowd, that meant he was allowed to carry on.

If that fight had been in america there is no question what would have happened.

There are many fighters who come through with impressive KO records (Lacy) and all along aficianadoes can see their limitations, whether it be struggling into the late rds vs some guy a contender had KO'd earlier 3 years ago, or whatever.

McClellan was clearly the real deal. Any man who can take repeated power shots from Julian Jackson and come through to win was an unprecedented badass. Not just his wrecking ball power, but his great accuracy, natural talent and non stop walk forward aggression, he looked like he was capable of blasting anyone into row Z as soon as he took a step forward. Plus the way geralds ko victims used to just fall face first or get propelled across the ring, cold cocked. Sooo many guys were able to hang tough with Lacy, any boxing fan with half a brain can see the difference in punching power.

To suggest that someone like Gman wasn't capable of KO'ing Calzaghe, with his leaky, patchy moments is just pure lunacy. Stupid.

Especially when you consider that Mitchell had Calzaghe down and hurt with one shot, and Mitchell while normally considered a big hitter and did have pop, was actually surprisingly able to get into long fights with a lot of guys who could've been bombed out quicker.

watch the clip above, and tell me what result you think would be if calzaghe, flapping and waltzing forward with his eyes closed, walked onto a murderous long right cross from gman.

Twinkle Toes wrote:McClellan was a natural middleweight, his only true test at super middle was against Benn, and he lost.

He was also an easy fighter to hit, not that I think Calzaghe would stop him, but Calzaghe would have enough to take a comfortable points decision.

McClellan was not a great boxer.

He was actually a natural cruiserweight

And there are a number of fighters from the Kronk who say McClellan was the best fighter they have ever seen

theHitman wrote:

Twinkle Toes wrote:McClellan was a natural middleweight, his only true test at super middle was against Benn, and he lost.

He was also an easy fighter to hit, not that I think Calzaghe would stop him, but Calzaghe would have enough to take a comfortable points decision.

McClellan was not a great boxer.

True. McClelland and Lacy would have similar reps if Lacy hadn't run into Joe. Same thing would have happened to McClelland if he had run into Joe instead. Kessler is just on an entirely different overall skill-level.

Mikkel Kessler isn't even on McClellan's planet. He's way above average but nothing special at all

thats a bit strong, kessler may even have been a harder fight for Gman, mikkel hasn't been hurt very often and has a good defence, could make things interesting.

it is gutting that mcclellan/jones wasn't made, what an incredible matchup that would have been.

I find it very difficult to take anyone who spells McClellan 'Mclelland' seriously at all....

Riddick Blowe wrote:thats a bit strong, kessler may even have been a harder fight for Gman, mikkel hasn't been hurt very often and has a good defence, could make things interesting.

it is gutting that mcclellan/jones wasn't made, what an incredible matchup that would have been.

I think Jones would have taken him apart personally. McClellan was being somewhat overrated due to chilling KO's.

Power is the most overrated aspect of what makes a good fighter.

I think Roy may have pulled it off too, but the way Gman walked guys down and just detonated laser guided bombs on them was scary. We all know Jones was a force at SM and was well capable of avoiding danger for 12 but Gman presented such a big threat there would have been no margin for error for roy, who would have had to fight on the back foot for all 36 minutes.

I love Gerald McClellan, one hell of a fighter. But he didn't ever have a plan B - he either flattened you, or he didn't. Joe's always had a Plan A,B...C - and Like Benn, if you floored him he'd get right up.

GMan hit as hard as anyone, but Mitchell hit JC with an absolute bomb, and he showed a brilliant chin to recover so quickly.

McClellan would likely have floored Joe, but as we saw in the Kessler fight, he'd learn the lesson & adjust immediately, then he'd have outsped a fast running out of ideas GM over the distance.
Taking McClellan into the late rounds would have been alien territory for the American.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

dr_devious wrote:McClellan would have probably knocked Calzaghe out if they met in their peaks - Joes got a leaky defence, and even his chins wouldnt have stood up to McClellans punches.

What a fekking moronic comment.

Who did McClellan ever beat at 168?

Calzaghe's chin is rock solid, he's taken massive punches from big raw boned 168 lbers, McClellan was really no more than a light middleweight.

Steady on, its only an opinion. I do think that McClellan would have a hell of a chance of beating Calzaghe. Joe was knocked down by Byron Mitchell and Kabery Salem, he hasnt got Marvin Haglers chin.
Theres 2 possible outcomes - Joe on points or McClellan by KO

Calzaghe was hit by Salem and Mitchell, two big, strong 168 lbers, and got off the floor to win.

Calzaghe is a lot harder to hit than Benn was, and against top level opposition, makes few mistakes.

McClellan hit harder certainly than Salem, and almost definitely harder than Mitchell. He was also a lot fiercer than Mitchell, and had a titanium chin. McClellan had the offensive skills and toughness to be a danger to virtually anyone, including Calzaghe

What are you basing his fearsome power at 168 on? He only had one fight, against Benn, who great a competitor as he was, never had the best chin.

McClellan's best results were at 160.

I am not doubting his punching power, merely that at 168 it would have been enough to take Calzaghe.

He only had 1 fight at 168lbs, which he lost - he did have Benn down and almost out. McClellans KO record at 160lbs stands up with anyones, he had chilling power and its not too much of a leap in imagination to believe he would have carried this power up to 168lbs.