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where Tommy Hearns, Julian Jackson, Duran, Barkley, Mugabi, McCrory, Nunn and Kalambay failed..

FCS Simms, De Witt had never even tasted the mat.. ever.. (not even in thousands of rounds of sparring with Hagler in the 70s when they were teenagers..)

where do we rank that block of four victories in British Boxing History ???




PS GOTTA GIVE TOP MARKS TO CHRIS EUBANK ( AND HIS CHIN) FOR GOING 21 ROUNDS AT MIDDLE AND SUPER-MIDDLE

Greg Nicholas wrote:where Tommy Hearns, Julian Jackson, Duran, Barkley, Mugabi, McCrory, Nunn and Kalambay failed..

FCS Simms, De Witt had never even tasted the mat.. ever.. (not even in thousands of rounds of sparring with Hagler in the 70s when they were teenagers..)

where do we rank that block of four victories in British Boxing History ???




PS GOTTA GIVE TOP MARKS TO CHRIS EUBANK ( AND HIS CHIN) FOR GOING 21 ROUNDS AT MIDDLE AND SUPER-MIDDLE

DeWitt had been floored (and stopped) by Jose Quinones.

Kalambay absolutely flattened Dewitt.

Incredible, I really think.

He proved himself with the American double over DeWitt and Barkley, but coming back from a devastating defeat against a fighter like Robbie Sims was admirable and is underrated, and the fact he knocked out Sims for the first time in his career was incredible on top of the other two victories over America's toughest. And the McClellan fight obviously topped the lot, obviously.

You can't fornicate about saying 'Oh, DeWitt was past-it, Barkley and McClellan had weight problems'... when you take out one of American's toughest again and again and again, you're proving yourself, proving your greatness.

And anyway, DeWitt was in the best form of his career in his previous two fights and Barkley went on to win two more world titles - both went on to finish standing against an absolute peak Toney, while McClellan hadn't starved himself to make 160 for once which was supposedly his one weakness!


Where to rank? Well what other Brit has a quadruple take-out over top Yanks?

Benn's opp was great. He fought a world-class, World Top 5-rated fighter in Watson after just 27 months as a pro, remember. He fought fighters like Sims and Sanderline Williams in non-title fights (better than 95+% of Calzaghe's world title challengers), Malinga too non-title back when he was very good. The performances against Barkley and McClellan were unbelievable. Wharton was a threat with his power. It goes on.

bennie wrote:

Greg Nicholas wrote:where Tommy Hearns, Julian Jackson, Duran, Barkley, Mugabi, McCrory, Nunn and Kalambay failed..

FCS Simms, De Witt had never even tasted the mat.. ever.. (not even in thousands of rounds of sparring with Hagler in the 70s when they were teenagers..)

where do we rank that block of four victories in British Boxing History ???




PS GOTTA GIVE TOP MARKS TO CHRIS EUBANK ( AND HIS CHIN) FOR GOING 21 ROUNDS AT MIDDLE AND SUPER-MIDDLE

DeWitt had been floored (and stopped) by Jose Quinones.

It was almost comical how DeWitt just stood and took right hand after right hand off of Tommy Hearns for 15 rounds, then in his next fight gets flattened by the first right hand taken from Jose Quinones.

To be rather frank - If you can get hold of the Boxing News covering the Iran Barkely fight against Benn - they stated (as did most tabloids) that the fight should have not been held in the first place as Barkley was legally blind in one eye - nobody had Barkley down as a legitimate threat. As for DeWitt - a lot of people said that he would beat Benn but thats because they didn't rate Benn highly at the time rather than overrate DeWitt - concensus at the time was that DeWitt was past his best - I am sure every boxing magazine and newspaper at the time would attest to this.

I was with Nigel when he done Quinones, at the Hacienda hotel, Richard Steele was the ref, he came into the changing room to give nigel instructions etc, there was Vic, Ambrose, Nigel Cutsman, cannot remember his name, and me, and he said I am Richard Steele the referee, Ambrose replied, yeah we all know who you are, with a big grin on his face,realising this is the start of big time!!
happy memories

It was a fantastic time.

I remember seeing Eubank for the first time and thinking 'What the hell is this guy!?' when he vaulted the ropes at York Hall (as chief supporting act to Errol Christie-James Cook), then he put in a punch-perfect display with the most vicious finishing flurry. I'd heard he beat Anthony Logan but didn't see him again til the Kid Milo fight in Brighton where he was asking the ref to step in and save Milo from further punishment, even physically turning his back without a worry in the world - it was an extravagence not seen in a British ring.

Watson I'd always thought just looked such a smooth operator, seeing him on Grandstand. It was bizarre and puzzling that the guy wasn't fighting for titles, fighting other prospects or ever topping bills etc. He was lovely to watch and improving each time but I kind of almost forgot about him before the Benn fight was made.

And there was Benn, by far the most pronounced British fighter ever early in a career. He really caught the imagination like none other, probably anywhere ever other than Tyson across the pond. I don't think I'd seen a fighter so vicious with his punch.

The five fights they went on to give us from 1989 to 1993 were the most fascinating and exciting sporting occasions of my life time.

Throw in Rod Douglas, Herol Graham, Henry Wharton, and Gary Stretch into the background picture. Exciting times.

ERIC GUY wrote:I was with Nigel when he done Quinones, at the Hacienda hotel, Richard Steele was the ref, he came into the changing room to give nigel instructions etc, there was Vic, Ambrose, Nigel Cutsman, cannot remember his name, and me, and he said I am Richard Steele the referee, Ambrose replied, yeah we all know who you are, with a big grin on his face,realising this is the start of big time!!
happy memories

Nice info. Nigel destroyed Quinones, of course, prompting suck-up Arum to compare him to Hagler. I'm really glad Benn was then matched with the highly capable Sanderline Williams, who gave him the 10 hard rounds he needed prior to DeWitt. Forget Benn's power, Benn would probably have lost to DeWitt but for that man Williams.

Yeah, Sanderline Williams was the lb4lb gatekeeper!

Jorge Amparo was ridiculously tough, mind, going the distance with Nunn, Barkley and Milton McCrory and even held a win over world-rated Kevin Watts. Benn hit some shots on Amparo that saw previous opponents go head over hills from and Amparo didn't budge!

coghaugen11 wrote:Yeah, Sanderline Williams was the lb4lb gatekeeper!

Jorge Amparo was ridiculously tough, mind, going the distance with Nunn, Barkley and Milton McCrory and even held a win over world-rated Kevin Watts. Benn hit some shots on Amparo that saw previous opponents go head over hills from and Amparo didn't budge!

Amparo led to the devastating win over Quinones; Williams, to DeWitt. Good American matchmaking from Team Benn.

i think alot of the reason Nige's Kayos vanished at Super-middle was actually because he was fighting all light-heavies and cruisers coming down !

when your 12st and your punching 13st it is major , Nige took yrs to grow into the weight prob til 95

Sugarboy, Galvano, Morgan, Piper, Gent, Eubank,- all cw's/lhw's coming down..

there always was talk of Nige fighting the likes of Andries, Harding, Barkley, Hearns or Hill but he would of been so undersized at light-heavy..

coghaugen11 wrote: Throw in Rod Douglas, Herol Graham, Henry Wharton, and Gary Stretch into the background picture. Exciting times.

didn't Benn and Douglas brawl in the amateurs..?

Greg Nicholas wrote:

coghaugen11 wrote: Throw in Rod Douglas, Herol Graham, Henry Wharton, and Gary Stretch into the background picture. Exciting times.

didn't Benn and Douglas brawl in the amateurs..?

Twice. Douglas won the first, Benn the second.

Greg Nicholas wrote:there always was talk of Nige fighting the likes of Andries, Harding, Barkley, Hearns or Hill but he would of been so undersized at light-heavy..

I read everything you could get hold of around that time and I NEVER EVER heard talk of Nigel Benn fighting Virgil Hill, Jeff Harding or Dennis Andries - the first time I have heard of even mentioning Benn with those big light heavyweights is today reading your post.

Where did you hear it?

My faourite Benn fight was the De Witt fight.

He showed tremendous tenacity in that fight, and showed how our fighters should take on the challenge of fighting away from home, especially after some of the limp efforts we've seen from our lads over the last couple of years.

To be fair to the chap (Mr Nicholas) there was quite a lot of talk of Benn fighting Harding or Andries in '91-'92 then going back down and fighting Van Horn or Barkley to become a three-weight world champ. It was in a number of editions of BM I recall and pre-fight interviews and fight commentary etc around the Milo-Morgan-Malinga times between his title reigns.

I think Virgil Hill was mentioned in '95, put forward by King when Benn wasn't keen on Liles and Jones wasn't keen on King.

Douglas inflicted the first defeat on Nigel Benn, at the '85 London ABA's! Douglas was already a multiple national senior ABA champion and it was Nigel's first year out of the army. It was a war.

The following year, Benn got his revenge and avenged the defeat, the first time Douglas had been knocked down I believe, at the '86 London ABA's. Benn went on to win the whole ABA tourney, stopping Johnny Melfah in the final. BUT it was Douglas who went to the Commonwealth Games that year, controversially, because the ABA felt he had more experience than Benn. Benn was disgusted by the decision and turned pro, rather than wait for the Olympics. For the record, Douglas won the Gold at the Commonwealth's, beating Jeff Harding in the final.

The first one was at 156 in '85 and the second one at 165 in '86.

Douglas looked a real hot young lion as a pro, real good hitter with Mr T hairstyle, on BBC. His people threw him in far too early with Herol Graham though, that was silly match-making. He was a very good prospect.

Carlos-Wigan wrote:To be rather frank - If you can get hold of the Boxing News covering the Iran Barkely fight against Benn - they stated (as did most tabloids) that the fight should have not been held in the first place as Barkley was legally blind in one eye - nobody had Barkley down as a legitimate threat. As for DeWitt - a lot of people said that he would beat Benn but thats because they didn't rate Benn highly at the time rather than overrate DeWitt - concensus at the time was that DeWitt was past his best - I am sure every boxing magazine and newspaper at the time would attest to this.

yeah but history and Irasn Barkley proved those tabloids and BN to ber full of shit on this occasion.

He beat Hearns in 3 then went 15 with duran prior to losing to Nigel. Two ATG.

Then he wins world titles at super middle and light heavyweight beating Hearns again 17 months later. Blind or not.

how on earth can the man not be considered a threat.

What a shit post that was Carlos you are usually better than that.

J wrote:

Carlos-Wigan wrote:To be rather frank - If you can get hold of the Boxing News covering the Iran Barkely fight against Benn - they stated (as did most tabloids) that the fight should have not been held in the first place as Barkley was legally blind in one eye - nobody had Barkley down as a legitimate threat. As for DeWitt - a lot of people said that he would beat Benn but thats because they didn't rate Benn highly at the time rather than overrate DeWitt - concensus at the time was that DeWitt was past his best - I am sure every boxing magazine and newspaper at the time would attest to this.

yeah but history and Irasn Barkley proved those tabloids and BN to ber full of poop on this occasion.

He beat Hearns in 3 then went 15 with duran prior to losing to Nigel. Two ATG.

Then he wins world titles at super middle and light heavyweight beating Hearns again 17 months later. Blind or not.

how on earth can the man not be considered a threat.

What a poop post that was Carlos you are usually better than that.

I am just telling you how it was seen at the time, nobody (including our mate Colin Hart) saw the Barkley fight as a dangerous fight whereas in fact they thought the fight should have been aborted on health grounds and nobody thought Doug DeWitt or the WBO title was anything other that a paper title and champion - its only now - 20 years later - things are seen in the right context - but to say Benn's victories were seen in the same context 20 years ago as they are today is of course wrong.

coghaugen11 wrote:To be fair to the chap (Mr Nicholas) there was quite a lot of talk of Benn fighting Harding or Andries in '91-'92 then going back down and fighting Van Horn or Barkley to become a three-weight world champ. It was in a number of editions of BM I recall and pre-fight interviews and fight commentary etc around the Milo-Morgan-Malinga times between his title reigns.

I think Virgil Hill was mentioned in '95, put forward by King when Benn wasn't keen on Liles and Jones wasn't keen on King.

Seriously, I have never ever read talk of Benn fighting Andries or Harding - these guys are big durable light heavyweights whereas Benn was a small super middleweight - as for Hill - he only fought out of America to go to Germany to fight Henry Maske for megabucks so either Benn was going to go to North Dakota to fight Hill (another big light heavyweight and totally the wrong style for Benn - it would have been nothing but a KO loss for Nigel) or shell out the money to bring Hill to the UK - and why do that? I have never ever heard of Benn fighting Andries, Harding or Hill - anywhere! And I don't think it has ever been once mentioned on this forum.

All the talk around that time was Benn fighting Jones, Toney, Nunn etc.

He mentioned something about weighing 12-stone as a light-heavy to keep his speed.