Dennis Milton was WBO #1 contender when Eubank contested Watson one weight up (Eubank couldn't make 160 anymore). Yes, McClellan was in the WBO and WBC top 10s after beating Sanderline Williams. But was still an unknown quantity with a few losses.
Just because Eubank beat Benn doesn't automatically mean he was better, i mean Kirkland Laing beat Roberto Duran, so was Laing better than Duran?
Duran was an early 70s lightweight. Benn was a late 80s/early 90s middleweight. Come on, Eubank beat Malinga with 10% effort then Benn barely scraped by 10 rounds with Malinga at 100% effort. Logan landed more shots in two rounds with Benn than he did in eight rounds with Eubank. Let's be realistic.
And Wharton froze against Benn, not throwing a punch until the end of the fifth. Then had Benn hanging on for the rest of the fight. Eubank completely took apart a turbo-starting Wharton from start to finish. No comparison. (But Benn's tactics were spot-on in their rematch!)
I'm not sure about that. Jones might have more talent and be slicker but he had a weak jaw, Eubank was granite jawed and a hard-puncher as well as a skilled counter-puncher. Jones isn't knocking Eubank out in any encounter and Eubank always has a chance to hit Jones' flush on his jaw and KO him. So Jones wins 7/8/9 time out of 10 but not every time.