BoxRec

You attended?

It can be whatever you decide. I was at Lewis Klitschko in LA which was a great event and included Lucia Rijker, Laila Ali and Philip Ndou - who I believe would beat Mayweather

But the bill I enjoyed the most was Nigel Benn v Lou Gent in 1993.

It may have helped that I was E'd up but the crowd singing "Saaf Laandahhn, rah, rah, rah" over & over (even though I was there for Benn I'll always be a South London boy ) got me really geed up. It was a brilliant night with people singing the whole night through.

Gent put up a decent fight too even though people were saying it was a going to be a crap fight that shouldn't happen.

Seems like I've been a Casual for 3 decades now

Steve Collins also fought that night but it was his previous style when he was a very dull boxer. Later on he turned slugger. I actually prefer boxers over sluggers but his style was dull. Colin McMillan was fantastic to watch around the same time.

Bit obvious, but I loved Kostya-Ricky. True anticipation in the air all week and all night building up to it.

Being at the second Benn-Eubank fight, even though I was two rows from the back, and being by the apron for Froch-Bute were probably mine. The sense of anticipation for Benn-Eubank was massive, and Froch-Bute was just jaw-dropping.

Even although I have been to some massive fights in bigger arenas the one that always stands out for me is Burns v Martinez in the Kelvin Hall.

The place was rocking and I still get goosebumps watching it back. Great night.

I love the smaller venues!

Biggest 'event' I've attended Froch Groves 2 and for an event to be fair you can't knock it really felt like something special/massive. Although weirdly the week after I went to the Aston Villa Holte Suite to watch a Midlands Area title fight between Callum Cooper and Marcus Ffrench and probably enjoyed the actual boxing at that one more!

Pacquaio v Marquez 1 I guess.
Cotto v someone whose name escape me at 140.


There's three words however burned into my brain from Ponds forge Leisure centre.

"Come on Clinton, come on Clinton, come on Clinton"

Ian you will know what I mean.

Froch - Groves II, had everything for me:

- a short but unabridged undercard, laden with names and relevant titles
- the grandness of the fight being at the national stadium
- the drama of the first Froch vs Groves fight, and the change of opinion on both Froch and Groves by many
- the conclusion of each fight on the card was progressively more savage (all KOs)
- ...and most importantly the hype and excitement around the capital, and country as a whole - everyone was asking me questions about this card

Hopefully with some of the talent we currently have, further events like this aren't too far in the future

(Frampton-Quigg and Bellew-Makabu are both honourable mentions, but the undercards let them down in my opinion)