The best and worst fight i have ever seen..Benn v McClellan

[treelo]

So i decided to watch the American broadcast of this fight tonight, and while i will probably never see a better fight live in my life, it was a dirty fight with a bad ref who couldnt really handle what was going on

I did find the USA broadcast a bit strange though, they thought McClellan was up after 9 rounds, i thought the only rounds he won were the knockdown rounds ,plus the whole "he scraped his dreadlocks against him", that may be the strangest thing i have ever heard in my life

i think the real damage was done in the second round, McClellan took some big big shots in that round, Benn is a BIG puncher, and he hit him a LOT

i also think it was a really bad clash of styles, lots of shots from Benn landed behind the head but it wasnt intentional, it was just McClellan bending down trying to avoid shots, i know at the time people were concerned about why/how McClellan came in as light as he did at the weigh in

also....Don King is a fucking snake and a cunt, he jumped fighters as soon as his fighter lost

interesting to see the American broadcast also thought he quit, what a terrible take in hindsight

USA


UK

 

[Jonny Ninja]

So i decided to watch the American broadcast of this fight tonight, and while i will probably never see a better fight live in my life, it was a dirty fight with a bad ref who couldnt really handle what was going on

I did find the USA broadcast a bit strange though, they thought McClellan was up after 9 rounds, i thought the only rounds he won were the knockdown rounds ,plus the whole "he scraped his dreadlocks against him", that may be the strangest thing i have ever heard in my life

i think the real damage was done in the second round, McClellan took some big big shots in that round, Benn is a BIG puncher, and he hit him a LOT

i also think it was a really bad clash of styles, lots of shots from Benn landed behind the head but it wasnt intentional, it was just McClellan bending down trying to avoid shots, i know at the time people were concerned about why/how McClellan came in as light as he did at the weigh in

also....Don King is a fucking snake and a cunt, he jumped fighters as soon as his fighter lost

interesting to see the American broadcast also thought he quit, what a terrible take in hindsight

USA


UK

I couldn’t agree more. As a huge fan of benn this is probably my favourite fight, yet it’s a fight a can’t bring myself to watch

 

[mozfonky]

So i decided to watch the American broadcast of this fight tonight, and while i will probably never see a better fight live in my life, it was a dirty fight with a bad ref who couldnt really handle what was going on.

I did find the USA broadcast a bit strange though, they thought McClellan was up after 9 rounds, i thought the only rounds he won were the knockdown rounds ,plus the whole "he scraped his dreadlocks against him", that may be the strangest thing i have ever heard in my life

i think the real damage was done in the second round, McClellan took some big big shots in that round, Benn is a BIG puncher, and he hit him a LOT

i also think it was a really bad clash of styles, lots of shots from Benn landed behind the head but it wasnt intentional, it was just McClellan bending down trying to avoid shots, i know at the time people were concerned about why/how McClellan came in as light as he did at the weigh in

also....Don King is a fucking snake and a cunt, he jumped fighters as soon as his fighter lost

interesting to see the American broadcast also thought he quit, what a terrible take in hindsight

USA


UK

remember it as thought it happened yesterday. Don King said McClellan quit too. The idiot broadcasters did too, no one knew what McClellan probably did; something was seriously wrong, most likely a while before the end of the fight. I've said it before too, announcers and viewers are often transparently biased to their own countryman or their own favorite. Not supposed to be but it shows.

Vicious fight but without the tragedy, it probably wouldn't be seen the way it is today. The hitting behind the head is illegal and Benn knew what he was doing, it was the refs job to stop that and he failed. If a fighter can get away with something, sometimes they do it more. It might look weak to some people for a fighter to complain blatantly but sometimes it's warranted because a ref might be useless.

One thing about that fight and about boxing. It sure attracts the gamut, McClellans cornerman sounded like a piece of shit and we all know about Don and his antics. It also attracts some wonderful guys, I've met some, but they are always somewhat small time, old guys with great hearts who just love the sport. Another thing is, the smaller time folks seem to look after each other a lot in my area.

 

[mozfonky]

I couldn’t agree more. As a huge fan of benn this is probably my favourite fight, yet it’s a fight a can’t bring myself to watch

I understand, I've seen it a few times, even one time a year or two ago.

 

[HunterAcosta]

Tough ending for Gerald . Not a great human being but he didn’t deserve the life he has now.

 

[mozfonky]

Tough ending for Gerald . Not a great human being but he didn’t deserve the life he has now.

his family doesn't for sure. That's gotta be a helluva burden to handle. If you've had family who can't take care of themselves, you'll know just how much that can take out of you.

 

[HunterAcosta]

his family doesn't for sure. That's gotta be a helluva burden to handle. If you've had family who can't take care of themselves, you'll know just how much that can take out of you.

I’m a social worker working with elderly and disabled people and I see how hard it is for providers to keep continuous care and not suffer burnout . Tough gig for low pay .

 

[WklySportsMemes]

They say Gerald was a bit compromised already from his prior fight & that's where some signs of blinking and brain damage started. Can't remember which one though. Its been sooo long.
Also, that his temper & camp were horrible. Another potential sign of CTE brain damage. His trainer post Steward was a complete fool.

I also firmly believe the weight cut and lack of fluid in his head to cushion the blows help contribute. Dude was drained and huge for the weight.

I think it all played a part.

Also, Connor Benn popping somewhat recently reminds me of the drug accusations against Nigel Benn in that fight.

But so much fuckery went on in & out of the ring for this fight, something tragic was bound to happen.

 

[Blastbeat]

They say Gerald was a bit compromised already from his prior fight & that's where some signs of blinking and brain damage started. Can't remember which one though. Its been sooo long.
Also, that his temper & camp were horrible. Another potential sign of CTE brain damage. His trainer post Steward was a complete fool.

I also firmly believe the weight cut and lack of fluid in his head to cushion the blows help contribute. Dude was drained and huge for the weight.

I think it all played a part.

Also, Connor Benn popping somewhat recently reminds me of the drug accusations against Nigel Benn in that fight.

But so much fuckery went on in & out of the ring for this fight, something tragic was bound to happen.

His two fights with Julian Jackson might be what you're thinking of. Even though Gerald beat Julian both times, The Hawk is one of the hardest punchers P4P, ever. Gerald got rocked a few times during those fights. Gotta be a contributing factor.

 

[mozfonky]

His two fights with Julian Jackson might be what you're thinking of. Even though Gerald beat Julian both times, The Hawk is one of the hardest punchers P4P, ever. Gerald got rocked a few times during those fights. Gotta be a contributing factor.

Many people said that. Who knows?

 

[newcastleman]

It was a thrilling fight to watch, one of the most dramatic and savage of the 90s, but that ending...
A long time later I rewatched it on YouTube with the American commentary. It was so sad hearing those commentators criticizing McClellan for quitting while being unaware that the guy's brain was injured and he was close to death. Tragic, just like the equally astonishing Eubank vs Watson 2.

 

[treelo]

i think people like to make a lot of excuses, but McClellan got absolutely blasted in this fight by one of the hardest hitters in the division, he really did take a lot of clean full shots that had him on his bike at times, after rewatching it i was actually surprised as how many clean shots he took before he went down

 

[moosaev]

So i decided to watch the American broadcast of this fight tonight, and while i will probably never see a better fight live in my life, it was a dirty fight with a bad ref who couldnt really handle what was going on

I did find the USA broadcast a bit strange though, they thought McClellan was up after 9 rounds, i thought the only rounds he won were the knockdown rounds ,plus the whole "he scraped his dreadlocks against him", that may be the strangest thing i have ever heard in my life

i think the real damage was done in the second round, McClellan took some big big shots in that round, Benn is a BIG puncher, and he hit him a LOT

i also think it was a really bad clash of styles, lots of shots from Benn landed behind the head but it wasnt intentional, it was just McClellan bending down trying to avoid shots, i know at the time people were concerned about why/how McClellan came in as light as he did at the weigh in

also....Don King is a fucking snake and a cunt, he jumped fighters as soon as his fighter lost

interesting to see the American broadcast also thought he quit, what a terrible take in hindsight

USA


UK

It’s been years since I’ve watched this, but I feel like the whole situation was rigged to give Benn more time, he should’ve been TKO’d early in that fight. Also, McClellan likely had a brain injury from Julian Jackson fight, which is what led to the brain bleed. People chalk it up to Benn but it was the damage of Jackson + Benn that did McClellan in.

 

[treelo]

It’s been years since I’ve watched this, but I feel like the whole situation was rigged to give Benn more time, he should’ve been TKO’d early in that fight. Also, McClellan likely had a brain injury from Julian Jackson fight, which is what led to the brain bleed. People chalk it up to Benn but it was the damage of Jackson + Benn that did McClellan in.

Benn had 20 seconds to get back in the ring if that is what you are alluding to, the ref wasnt great at all during the entire fight for both fighters, he seemed to let a lot of things slide

that was a melting pot of an arena that night though, never matched before or since i dont think

 

[tank666]

Tragic end but one of the greatest British performances at any weight imo. Thought Benn was done when fell out of ring.

He talks about the fight in his book. His friends had to carry him to the bath, he was coughing blood etc. Absolutely brutal fight. That reunion programme they did was heartwarming but hard to see G man in that shape.

 

[tank666]

It’s been years since I’ve watched this, but I feel like the whole situation was rigged to give Benn more time, he should’ve been TKO’d early in that fight. Also, McClellan likely had a brain injury from Julian Jackson fight, which is what led to the brain bleed. People chalk it up to Benn but it was the damage of Jackson + Benn that did McClellan in.

I agree about Jackson whilst both Benn / McClellan hit damn hard Jackson power was just almost otherworldly.

 

[tank666]

Tough ending for Gerald . Not a great human being but he didn’t deserve the life he has now.

I dunno what he did wrong apart from wasn't nice to his dogs or something?

 

[moosaev]

Benn had 20 seconds to get back in the ring if that is what you are alluding to, the ref wasnt great at all during the entire fight for both fighters, he seemed to let a lot of things slide

that was a melting pot of an arena that night though, never matched before or since i dont think

Yeah I remember that the ref was French and was completely out of his depths…should’ve had a more experienced ref in there from more of a boxing nation lol. I mean it was the UK for God’s sake, they couldn’t find a Brit ref?

 

[HunterAcosta]

I dunno what he did wrong apart from wasn't nice to his dogs or something?

Apparently abusive in his relationships with women and fought dogs and killed them, like Michael Vick. Had bad anger issues. Not the worst human ever , but a dysfunctional dude nonetheless plus possible cte mixed with drugs and booze which is never great combo to be a stable individual.

 

[borntoloseNOT]

It was a thrilling fight to watch, one of the most dramatic and savage of the 90s, but that ending...
A long time later I rewatched it on YouTube with the American commentary. It was so sad hearing those commentators criticizing McClellan for quitting while being unaware that the guy's brain was injured and he was close to death. Tragic, just like the equally astonishing Eubank vs Watson 2.

Yeah, that’s fucked up but they didn’t know and it could have been so much worse. What if Lampley had been on the mic? Can you imagine if he tried to force a career moment (his career that is!!!!) like in that one Pacquiao fight? “BAM … BAM here’s another one BAM take that! Oh you go that way? Okay BAM I go this way BAM! BAM BAM BAM!!!”