BoxRec

I have read a few posts that point to Benn's dodgy chin as being a weak spot. Out of his 5 defeats 4 ended before the final bell yet against Watson he basically punched himself to a stand still in a rather stupid tactic of just throwing bombs for 6 rounds.

Two of his stoppages were by retirement to Collins, the last two fights of his career and on the slide.

The other stoppage there are no complaints there, Eubank caught him with a cracker, didn't put him down though. He was also badly hurt and dropped by Logan but managed to turn the fight around.

Then on the other hand he went 10 rounds and beat one of the hardest punching middleweights ever (McClennan)

What do you reckon? Personally I think it was his style that got him into trouble more than his chin, he was always coming forward and by throwing big punches and would leave himself open.

I've never subscribed to the theory that Nigel Benn was chinny.

In the early part of his career, it was stamina & stupidity that cost him in his defeats, not his chin.

His later defeats were down to age or the wrong type of opponent, like Malinga, who outboxed Benn comfortably, TWICE, but was robbed the first time around.

Controversial wrote:I have read a few posts that point to Benn's dodgy chin as being a weak spot. Out of his 5 defeats 4 ended before the final bell yet against Watson he basically punched himself to a stand still in a rather stupid tactic of just throwing bombs for 6 rounds.
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with respect, the above is just plain wrong, or at best a woefully one-sided view ofthe fight, and I see it over and over again. watch that fight, watch the times from round 3 on that Watson hits Benn, over and over again, in the face. there's one point, i think maybe the 4th or 5th, Watson lands something like a 9 punch combination, every punch landing.

watch how he hurts Benn badly, in both round 5 and 6 before the stoppage.

I hate the idea that Watson just somehow hid behind his gloves until Benn just got tired and fell over.

he was punching Benn repeatedly in the face. that'll take it out of a fighter, you know. he got punched to a standstill every bit as much as he punched himself to one.

just watch Watson and not Benn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DgsDran0Hc

Counter-puncher wrote:
with respect, the above is just plain wrong, or at best a woefully one-sided view ofthe fight, and I see it over and over again. watch that fight, watch the times from round 3 on that Watson hits Benn, over and over again, in the face. there's one point, i think maybe the 4th or 5th, Watson lands something like a 9 punch combination, every punch landing.

Yes don't get me wrong of course that wasn't the only reason Benn lost, Watson fought very well and he hit him with many clean punches. However Benn's over eager tactic of trying to bomb Watson out from the opening bell done him no favours and he expelled a LOT of energy, which probably explains why he was dropped by a jab. I don't believe Benn's chin was the main reason he got knocked out.

Controversial wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:
with respect, the above is just plain wrong, or at best a woefully one-sided view ofthe fight, and I see it over and over again. watch that fight, watch the times from round 3 on that Watson hits Benn, over and over again, in the face. there's one point, i think maybe the 4th or 5th, Watson lands something like a 9 punch combination, every punch landing.

Yes don't get me wrong of course that wasn't the only reason Benn lost, Watson fought very well and he hit him with many clean punches. However Benn's over eager tactic of trying to bomb Watson out from the opening bell done him no favours and he expelled a LOT of energy, which probably explains why he was dropped by a jab. I don't believe Benn's chin was the main reason he got knocked out.

IMO he could have fought quite a lot less stupidly, and still got outpointed. I think stylewise Watson was just wrong for Benn. if he'd have waited and been more patient he'd have been on the end of Watson's good jab all night

Counter-puncher wrote:
IMO he could have fought quite a lot less stupidly, and still got outpointed. I think stylewise Watson was just wrong for Benn. if he'd have waited and been more patient he'd have been on the end of Watson's good jab all night

I agree, Watson had a very tight defence in that fight and I can't imagine Benn stopping him, even if he slowed down and picked his punches better.

Controversial wrote:I don't believe Benn's chin was the main reason he got knocked out.

no indeed, but neither was it just him shotting his load stamina-wise. almost every time i see someone refer to the fight, you'd think Benn knocked himself out shadowboxing. i don't think Watson gets nearly enough credit, hence i maybe over-react a bit

Counter-puncher wrote:

Controversial wrote:I don't believe Benn's chin was the main reason he got knocked out.

no indeed, but neither was it just him shotting his load stamina-wise. almost every time i see someone refer to the fight, you'd think Benn knocked himself out shadowboxing. i don't think Watson gets nearly enough credit, hence i maybe over-react a bit

No worries and a fair point, it's so sad Watson's career ended how it did, he was the better boxer than Benn or Eubank IMO.

Counter-puncher wrote:

Controversial wrote:I don't believe Benn's chin was the main reason he got knocked out.

no indeed, but neither was it just him shotting his load stamina-wise. almost every time i see someone refer to the fight, you'd think Benn knocked himself out shadowboxing. i don't think Watson gets nearly enough credit, hence i maybe over-react a bit

I've always thought that Watson's destruction of Benn was the finest execution of boxing tactics I've ever seen.

I know it's a cliche, but he literally fought the perfect fight to the letter.

He knew what kind of a fighter Benn was & enacted the perfect plan to beat him.

Anthony Logan had him on the verge of being KO'd before he launched that punch from the floor.

Galvano had him out on his feet and stumbling around right at the end of the 12th in their 2nd fight.

McClellan almost had him out in the 1st round, he was badly hurt and stunned.

Barkley had him buzzed and glassy eyed for a bit.

I'm not sure that necessarily points to him being chinny.

orbtastic wrote:Anthony Logan had him on the verge of being KO'd before he launched that punch from the floor.

Galvano had him out on his feet and stumbling around right at the end of the 12th in their 2nd fight.

McClellan almost had him out in the 1st round, he was badly hurt and stunned.

Barkley had him buzzed and glassy eyed for a bit.

I'm not sure that necessarily points to him being chinny.

Exactly, not when you consider Benn won all those fights.

He had the heart of a lion.

But IMO his chin was average to below average if we're talking world class level.

Alan Partridge wrote:He had the heart of a lion.

But IMO his chin was average to below average if we're talking world class level.

Not chinny. But not exactly cast of steel, either.

No, people take chinny to a tremendous extreme on message boards. Duane Bobick was chinny, guys like Benn and Hearns didn't have great chins.

Styles have a lot to do with it.

Muhammed Ali is often mentioned as having a great chin but he was hurt in several fights, (Cooper, Frazier, Bonavena for example), shaken and dropped as well. I think the difference is Ali fought on the retreat a lot, swayed with the punches, tied up well or used his feet to move out of trouble. Fighters who swarm and come forward, like Benn, tend to get hit more by default, normally with counter punches as they are walking onto them.

watch the fights

if you still think he was chinny...you're just plain silly

no way.....the way he thought always left him vulnerable and in some respects that was his attraction...boxing=entertainment...benn =entertainment

Nah, not chinny. Put simply , Benn was of the 'live by the sword - die by the sword' ïlk. He toned it down later on when he'd matured but basically his first love was still "KO or be KO'd". And we loved him for his honest attitude to it all

Controversial wrote:I have read a few posts that point to Benn's dodgy chin as being a weak spot. Out of his 5 defeats 4 ended before the final bell yet against Watson he basically punched himself to a stand still in a rather stupid tactic of just throwing bombs for 6 rounds.

Two of his stoppages were by retirement to Collins, the last two fights of his career and on the slide.

The other stoppage there are no complaints there, Eubank caught him with a cracker, didn't put him down though. He was also badly hurt and dropped by Logan but managed to turn the fight around.

Then on the other hand he went 10 rounds and beat one of the hardest punching middleweights ever (McClennan)

What do you reckon? Personally I think it was his style that got him into trouble more than his chin, he was always coming forward and by throwing big punches and would leave himself open.

The 2 collins losses mean nothing in regards to his chin. 1 he got a twisted ankle the other he couldnt be bothered anymore.
The watson fight was zero in the brains department rather than a weak chin he punched himself out like u say to a point where he couldnt breathe or walk straight and a little short arm jab really put him down.

Benn had great heart, courage and toughness (ferocity) which formed part of his chin, but his actual chin itself he couldnt withstand the biggest shots without being wobbled but usually hed wake up and his ferocity would take over and restore order for him.

Was Benn chinny?

I would not have said so. But he did happen to fight some powerful punchers (Eubank & Collins)

Collins couldn't punch for shite

Counter-puncher wrote:Collins couldn't punch for shite

Yeah, that confused me also.

Nigel Benn chinny!! watch Mclennan fight. Nigel had a good chin imo. The Watson fight Benn punched himself out really. I think Watson was very underrated as he kept under the radar and didn't have the tv exposure as Benndid, maybe this was because Watson was a defensive fighter? and didn't have the 'sex' appeal to the paying tv public? Benn under estimated Watson and obviously thought he could knock him out. Benn went off to a really fast start and proberly went into the fight thinking 3 rounds, after that he had nothing left. Watson was certainly defensive in that fight and that was most likely his game plan. Fantastic fight

Benn had a good chin how many times was he purely knocked out?!!