BoxRec

'Born Again' Ex Boxer Benn To Sell His Belts
lse.co.uk Sunday, 2nd September 2007, 13:41

Boxing legend Nigel Benn is selling off his world title belts after turning to God.

Benn - nicknamed The Dark Destroyer because of his brutal style in the ring - has become a devout Christian since hanging up his gloves.

Now he preaches to a 40-strong congregation at his £1.7 million Majorca mansion as he seeks to put the demons of his fighting days firmly behind him.

Father-of-six Benn, 43, wants to rid himself of any reminders of his pugilist past by auctioning off the WBO and WBC belts he won during a distinguished career.

And he intends to give the profits to charity.

His agent, Kevin Lueshing, said: "Nigel has decided to auction off his belts because they no longer hold any value to him.

"They are part of his boxing career and he just doesn't want them as part of his life at the moment.

"I think he has moved on and they are just collecting dust."

Mr Lueshing added: "He has made his decision, he wants to get rid of the boxing memorabilia.

"He is not into materialistic things anymore. He wants to donate most of the proceeds to Christian charities he's working with in Spain.

"He just wants to take a step back, he's enjoying his life with his kids.

"His life is moving into a new phase and he's thinking more about what kind of legacy he will leave behind. But that's not taking anything away from how proud he is of his achievements.

"He is not ashamed of what he accomplished in the boxing ring. He's just concentrating more on other things."

The belts will be sold as part of a silent auction through London-based Simon Dent Sporting Memorabilia and Gallery in October.

Benn will also auction gloves and boots from his legendary first bout with arch rival Chris Eubank in 1990 regarded by critics as one of the finest fights ever.

Also going under the hammer will be the kit Benn wore during his epic career-defining bout with Gerard McClellan which left the American paralysed, blind and 80 per cent deaf.

However, Mr Lueshing dismissed suggestions Benn was selling his belts to raise cash.

He said: "Nigel's definitely not doing it for financial reasons. The guy is a millionaire several times over.

"He owns at least 10 properties in England and seven in Spain. He's earned a lot of money in the boxing ring."

After retiring from boxing Benn turned his hand to being a club DJ with some success, but eventually hit rock bottom.

Eight years ago, while sitting in his car at Streatham Common in south London, Benn, 43, tried to end it all by taking a handful of sleeping tablets washed down with wine.

He somehow managed to make it home to his wife, Carolyne, and awoke two days later on a mission to discover God.

Mr Lueshing, who has represented Benn since his fighting days, added: "Everything is fine with Nigel now. He's got a baby and is expecting to become a grandfather in a few months. His daughter just got married as well."

Of his own redemption, Benn recently said: "I was one of the biggest sinners. I was Satan's right-hand man.

"Whatever my temptations were then, they are still there, right there outside my door. People who say they are not are lying."

Benn's next fight is with his local council in Majorca where he is trying to gain permission to build a new church.

If I'm honest, I think it's a shame Nigel has decided to seel his belts, boxing memorabilia etc. I've no doubt they will sell easy.

However, I find it hard to understand how Benn can not have any feeling for his belts anymore? They're what he worked, sacrificed a great deal for. Those belts are not just material things in my view.

Then again, if it makes him happy, then it can't be bad, can it? Nigel seems to have matured, mellowed a great deal & may even still be in the process of mellowing-out even more.

Seems to have a very stable family life, which is important if you want to get your life in order. Looks like Nigel is making his name in the property marker aswell. Can't remember, but it states he owns many properties in England & Spain. Wonder if he rents them out?

Any guesses as to what price the belts will go for at auction?

I just hope he doesn't look back and regret his decision in the future. Having said that it won't be a decision he's taken lightly and so I'd guess it's a decision he'll be happy with. He has clearly found something that gives his life meaning and helps him to deal with his demons. The fact that he's using the money to build a church makes me think that it is a decision that ultimately he will be proud of, regardless of what anybody else might think.

I read this thread with sadness actually. Why sell his belts to give to charity when he lives in a mansion worth £1.7 million. i just do not get it. Why not sell his mansion and buy a house worth £169 thousand (thats the value of my 3 bedroom Barrett home on the north East coast of England) and live there, in a place like Islington, in London where he used to live. Take care of his kids by working in Tescos or on a building site like most individuals.

I do not understand his logic if this story is true, Benn cannot escape the fact he is a boxer, he made all his money from the sport. If he is so ashamed or embarrased about the fact then he should sell everything won through the sport, and live his live in a one bedroom flat in Islington and earn a living like regular people.

Nigel was one of my hero's i would go to say he was one of the best middleweights England has produced.

Just because he has found 'God' i do not think its quite right for him to sell his belts and still live in a million pound home. If he wants to forget his past because he has issues with what he did then do it right and sell everything and become what he was beofre boxing.

I find it is senseless to sell his trophies and still live a life of luxury.

i hope who reads this knows where im coming from. I just really get annoyed when rich people make a noise about poor, and suffering around the world but they still live in luxury.

I hopew nigel keeps his belts, when he is 65 and comes to his senses he has history to show his grandchildren who will be proud of their grandfather for who is is and wha the accieved in the ring.

At the end of the day you cannot change history, if nigel has issues with what he did he should never have got involved with this sport. He must have gone into it with his eyes open wide, also nigel was in the Army, what was that job going to make him ultimatley do???

I can understand his decision. He longer wants to be associated with the brutality of the ring, nor the person he was back then, which by his own accounts was a pretty messed up individual with a lot of issues.

It's not like the belts are neccessary for people to remember what a great warrior he was, he'll be remembered forever by British boxing fans, so long as copies of his fights exsist.

"Also going under the hammer will be the kit Benn wore during his epic career-defining bout with Gerard McClellan which left the American paralysed, blind and 80 per cent deaf."

Am I the only one who thinks this is in somewhat poor tast, I hope McClellan gets the money from that one not some sodding church (I have no problem with churches though I am an atheist but if you put a guy in that state you owe him something if you have the means to help him out).

He always used to say that God gave him the talent to fight, in his fighting days. He's obviously had some kind of revelation that he was Satan's right hand man (but maybe that was Satan himself giving him that revelation, because around the same time he had this revelation he was cheating on his wife (yet again) by having a rampant affair with a business woman), and now wants to forget he ever laced a pair of gloves.

Maybe he should start looking into the notion that God gave him a talent to entertain the public. And, without boxing, he wouldn't be in the position he is today to preach to so many, he wouldn't have that platform as a former household boxer.

Oh, I dunno. The memory of the Dark Destroyer will certainly never die though!


It's interesting that Eubank seems to be getting back into the boxing scene a little these days, coaching some youngsters in Brighton, London and also in Las Vegas with Floyd Mayweather Sr apparently! For no money! What a turn-a-round... it was always Benn who loved it and Eubank who hated it and said he'd want nothing to do with it again.

The lady did protest too much though, didn't she?

I guess after the tragedy in the ring with McClellan it's understandable.

Good luck to him and whatever he wants to achieve in the rest of his life.

Whats a silent auction?

Old bones Ian wrote:Whats a silent auction?

They are normally run at dinner shows and the amounts are just written on a piece of paper rather than an auctioneer doing them from the ring.

Benn and Lueshing are down to appear at PJ Rowson's dinner show on the 15th in Birmingham

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I can understand his decision. He longer wants to be associated with the brutality of the ring, nor the person he was back then, which by his own accounts was a pretty messed up individual with a lot of issues.

It's not like the belts are neccessary for people to remember what a great warrior he was, he'll be remembered forever by British boxing fans, so long as copies of his fights exsist.

it seems like he's trying to renounce his whole past, which is disconcerting. This is what made him who he is. Where would he be without boxing? There's be no plush mansions if not for boxing.

Wilfredo Gomez seems to be a similar case. He took things so far in his fighting days that not only won't he go near drugs, but women too, from what I read.

Some ppl live by extremes.

I hope McClellan gets the money from that one not some sodding church (I have no problem with churches though I am an atheist but if you put a guy in that state you owe him something if you have the means to help him out).[/quote]

I hope McClellan gets the money from that one not some sodding church (I have no problem with churches though I am an atheist but if you put a guy in that state you owe him something if you have the means to help him out).[/quote]

Benn recently organised a benefit that raised a few hundred thousand for McClellan.