BoxRec

What do ya reckon..? I mean in terms of how good the fight was..

Despite the host of great 'tear-ups' Benn's been in, there can surely only be one - the McClellan fight, despite the awful consequences, is the best fight I've ever seen in a British ring.

mcllellan followed closely by eubank 1

Has to be the McClellan fight, except for the awful aftermath. The next best are the first Eubank fight and his war with Anthony Logan. The Barkley fight prob comes 4th for me

Benn v Lou Gent is on tv early tomorrow morning, boxing classics on Ch5 3.30 am.

Good fight that one, Gent gave it a go , and somehow managed to get off the floor and stun Benn before the finish.

Top fight has to be McClellen though

First Eubank one for me. It was just such a see-saw battle and the way Eubank fought, with his hands low, using the ring, smug face, and Benn with the eyes of a hunter, I just found it so exciting because you knew at any second Benn could explode a punch on Eubank's head or jaw! What made it so exciting was that Eubank would swing himself into a massive flurry straight after being hit by a knockout punch!

His breakthrough win over former conqueror, triple ABA champ and Olympic quarter-finalist Rod Douglas in the early stages of the 1986 ABAs.
He dropped Douglas in the first and took a majority.

bennie wrote:His breakthrough win over former conqueror, triple ABA champ and Olympic quarter-finalist Rod Douglas in the early stages of the 1986 ABAs.
He dropped Douglas in the first and took a majority.

Forgot that one.. both Douglas fights were great scraps..

I once did a feature on Ian Chantler, who was regarded as a hard man in a hard town (St Helens). But Benn took him out with his first punch. Chantler fell slowly and Benn could have walloped him again - but didn't. I liked Benn for that.
Incidentally, Gary Stretch, also from St Helens, wanted no part of Chantler.

I've mentioned this before but the KO of Robbie Sims is often overlooked when asessing Nigel's career. It was the fight directly after the loss to Eubank , and although Sims had lost a few , no-one had come close to stopping him.Nigel put in a good display of agressive boxing and finished Sims in style.

Aye, I remember Sims outlasting Duran on the most disappointing Las Vegas super show ever. A broke Roberto took on Sims to secure a rematch with Robbie's half-brother (Hagler); he wasn't in fighting shape and ran out of steam. But Sims showed one helluva chin in the early rounds.
Then there was Hearns-Medal, with Hearns dead at the weight and lacking snap. Jesus, that was awful.
Then McGuigan against someone by the name of Cruz...

I really enjoyed the Watson fight, the build up was excellent, Benn's ring entrance cringe worthy TV and the fight top notch.

funso banjo baby wrote:mcllellan followed closely by eubank 1

watson, barkley, logan and gent all not far behind.

[quote="bennie"]I once did a feature on Ian Chantler, who was regarded as a hard man in a hard town (St Helens). But Benn took him out with his first punch. Chantler fell slowly and Benn could have walloped him again - but didn't. I liked Benn for that.
Incidentally, Gary Stretch, also from St Helens, wanted no part of Chantler.[/quote]

Saw Stretch get done by Mugabi in the gym

KO Artist wrote:Saw Stretch get done by Mugabi in the gym

No shame in that. If you're going to get a beat-down from someone, it might as well be a world-class fighter like 'The Beast'. At what stage of Stretch's career (and Mugabi's) was that?

I believe it was in the summer of 1993

bennie wrote:Aye, I remember Sims outlasting Duran on the most disappointing Las Vegas super show ever. A broke Roberto took on Sims to secure a rematch with Robbie's half-brother (Hagler); he wasn't in fighting shape and ran out of steam. But Sims showed one helluva chin in the early rounds.
Then there was Hearns-Medal, with Hearns dead at the weight and lacking snap. Jesus, that was awful.
Then McGuigan against someone by the name of Cruz...

I think he panicked when he know he couldn't get the KO, punched himself out and was shaky mentally after the Leonard loss.

Autobarn wrote:

bennie wrote:Aye, I remember Sims outlasting Duran on the most disappointing Las Vegas super show ever. A broke Roberto took on Sims to secure a rematch with Robbie's half-brother (Hagler); he wasn't in fighting shape and ran out of steam. But Sims showed one helluva chin in the early rounds.
Then there was Hearns-Medal, with Hearns dead at the weight and lacking snap. Jesus, that was awful.
Then McGuigan against someone by the name of Cruz...

I think he panicked when he know he couldn't get the KO, punched himself out and was shaky mentally after the Leonard loss.

No, no and no.

McClellan aside - I thought the DeWitt fight was great - If no one saw that, it is well worth looking up.

Benn's career was packed full of thrilling fights, but if you have to pick one out the Gerald McClennan war was sensational.

McClellan.

Nothing comes close.

Deserter wrote:Despite the host of great 'tear-ups' Benn's been in, there can surely only be one - the McClellan fight, despite the awful consequences, is the best fight I've ever seen in a British ring.

Completely agreed

bennie wrote:I once did a feature on Ian Chantler, who was regarded as a hard man in a hard town (St Helens). But Benn took him out with his first punch. Chantler fell slowly and Benn could have walloped him again - but didn't. I liked Benn for that.
Incidentally, Gary Stretch, also from St Helens, wanted no part of Chantler.

A guy called Russel Barker beat Michael Watson in the '84 ABA's in a close fight. In a pro ring, Benn demolished Barker. Absolutely obliterated him.

The McClellan fight for me too, has to be.

Nigel was up against a stellar fighter, seen as one of the best around at the time, and one of the most damaging punchers there's been in recent times. Basically, as Nigel said, McClellan was brought over to beat him, but this fight basically summed up everything which Nigel was about. He loved a good old tear-up, and his sheer will to win was evident in this fight.

The Eubank fight is close behind, I can remember settling down to watch it on TV, it's easy to forget now the sheer sense of occasion round that fight.

STP wrote:

bennie wrote:I once did a feature on Ian Chantler, who was regarded as a hard man in a hard town (St Helens). But Benn took him out with his first punch. Chantler fell slowly and Benn could have walloped him again - but didn't. I liked Benn for that.
Incidentally, Gary Stretch, also from St Helens, wanted no part of Chantler.

A guy called Russel Barker beat Michael Watson in the '84 ABA's in a close fight. In a pro ring, Benn demolished Barker. Absolutely obliterated him.

Shows how good technically good Watson was in their first fight to survive the onslaught and give Nige a good slap.