Nigel Benn quotes from Australian sports paper

I very much disagree. If you want to make the sport "as safe as possible"... well much bigger gloves then? Only 4 round fights? Tell people not to use their full power?

That may well make it safer, but it's destroying the sport.

Just as, Brit stoppages destroy the sport.

It's fiine and good to make the sport safer, but not at the cost of what the sport should be.

Professional fighters are there to entertain. If they don't entertain, then it's not "professional" sport, because people don't pay.

Well that's hardly logical...

 

Good stuff :thumbsup

 

i think froch although not the main man in the 90s era could beat nigel benn, a big shock and not detracting from benns legacy but it certianly could happen.

in the terms of pay per view attraction the swagger of eubanks and the aggressive exciting power of benn would light this era up

 

In the modern era there has to be a balance if the sport is to be justified. Bigger gloves have become the norm, less rounds too. And I dare say the length will continue to get shorter, more so if your wants are taken into account.

Professional fighters are there to be paid. Some of the best paid fighters were some of the most boring. But they just had a gimmick that worked. Maske and Ottke were huge in Germany but very dull to watch. Paul Ryan was a big puncher with a shocking chin, always entertaining and he crashed and burned in comparison to the Germans.

Being entertaining can help you as a pro, but normally winning (no matter how) is the formula to make money and thus be a successful 'professional' fighter.

 

I agree Froch "could" beat Benn. But it'd be a post Gerald Mcclellan Benn, even then i feel it'd be a bit of an upset.

 

Punching people in the head is brutal, full stop. Stop being feminine.

 

Indeed it is, thus it is often best to spin it as an art. A feminine touch probably would do the sport a bit of good. Sadly I do not think I could pull that one off!

 

Probably not a popular view, but after reading these quotes, I went back and watched some of Benn's fights on YouTube. Don't get me wrong, I saw them all as a kid, but I was too young to really appreciate the nuances of the sport then and was more caught up in the personalities and the partisanship. Having looked back objectively at Benn, I was amazed by how crude he was. Really lacking in the fundamentals, barley even threw a jab. Don't get me wrong, he was an explosive puncher with a lot of heart and an iron chin (despite that getting knocked out of the ring incident against MCClellan), but I think he is a bit overrated now, and a lot of that has to do with rose-tinted specs.

 

as it stands, groves is a bit part player now. he does have time to turn it around.

 

It's gone too far in the direction of being protective of fighters. Pro fighters are there to give us real fights.

There is no need for that to happen. If anything, we should go back to using 15 rounds as an option for some title fights.

They get paid by being "entertainment".

Yes, it's true that some fighters can still earn good/great money even if they have a relatively boring style.

But that doesn't change the fact that boxing is entertainment, and that is what makes it "professional" sport. People buy tickets because it's a form of entertainment. People buy PPV because it's a form of entertainment.

 

Define 'real'... I am pretty sure most boxing matches are on the level. And as fun as it was in other eras for the sport to progress safety does need to be taken seriously if boxing wishes to continue.

The 15 round era is finished. Yes it is nice to reminisce and wish, but I suspect 20 years down the line we will be mourning the loss of 12 rounders...

Boxers get paid because promoters believe they will make them money, that is the sole reason; 'entertainment' is another abstract term...

 

Always loved a quote what his old trainer said about Benn. Sayng he didnt have great footwork, defence or a jab but in terms of effort you could not fault him.

 

Great stuff! My all time favorite fighter.