Serious thread. Some of you may not know who Gerald McClellan was, well he was kind of like Tommy hearns but he had a much better chin and Emanuel Stewart called him the best fighter he ever trained. One punch power and took some bombs from Julian Jackson before KHTFO 1:03 he knocked out Julian Jackson This content is protected In the rematch he knocked him out in the first round. And GGG? Well he's GGG, one of the greatest pressure fighters since Chavez sr with underrated boxing skills
Honestly think mcllellan was on his way to being a special talent if he got his coaching team/lifestyle sorted anyway. Such a clean puncher. Think there was problems on the scales where they maybe tried to boil him down too long. Plus seemed to have a blip in form where he dropped two decisions on the way to guys he should have really been beating. Not sure if there was ever an explanation for it...maybe just a loss of form. But at his best he was a joy to behold. Personally think he might have went into the benn fight slightly damaged goods. But up for debate. Just need to look at the boy golovkins going in with tomorrow...comparing mcllellan and jacobs. Is like night and day. For me mcllellan takes golovkin out. As good as golovkin is. Hes a terrific fighter. But think mcllellan would have been all wrong for him. Would love to have seen golovkin giving mcllellan free shots. Not sure it would end as good as it does where hes gives shots away against guys. The problems golovkins got is theres no guys like that around. These guys hes fighting through no fault of his own...are levels below mcllellan for me. Potentially mcllellan could have been great. Obviously got cut short and the lifestyle plus 2 earlyish losses go against him when its time for people to judge him usually.
I'm pretty sure that was the case. He had some severe problems with brain and complained he felt like water was pouring into his head in the weeks before the fight already, if I remember correctly. No way he was perfectly normal and then somehow Nigel Benn did this to him. He probably accumulated some damage in the Julian Jackson fight or maybe his sparring habits were problematic. In any way, his career was probably on the downswing by that time anyway, he should have stayed with Steward. He also obviously wasn't a stable person, to put it mildly. I always liked him as a fighter though, he had that beautiful overhand-ish right hand that he set up with jabs and when it landed people went down. He also had a mean body shot. He was a very exciting fighter too. Would love to see a fighter with a similar style and predispositions emerge again.. This content is protected
If we're talking the Gerald from around the time of the Benn fight, I'd go with GGG simply because McLellan fell in love with his power, somewhat neglected his boxing skills, and always went for an early ko. In a firefight, I'll go with GGG because he has an excellent chin and can stay calm while in the storm. I think McLellan would walk into a big shot while looking for the knockout. If he actually used all his skills and fought more with his amateur style? That'd be different.
You mean the ref cheated McClellan from a KO, and was clearly paid off to favor Benn. One of the worst refs I've ever seen.
McClellan had brain problems going into the benn fight so no we're not talking about that version. We're talking about the best version at 160
I think the fight would start with McClellan on the offensive and GGG trying to use his jab. I can see McClellan having success in the first 2 rounds but then GGG figures out his timing a bit better and probably takes the rounds up to until half of the fight when he becomes more aggressive and tries to stalk him down but then McClellan hit him with something big and maybe slows him down with body shots and then takes some rounds. GGG goes back to boxing more cautiously and wins a 7-5 type of decision in the end. Although there might be knockdowns. I doubt that either get finished though, I think both would respect each other's power too much for it to be a total all out war. I do think McClellan would hurt GGG at some point, but GGG has a monster chin. It would be competitive. This is just after a quick thought though, I haven't really been thinking about that fight too much.
Had a bit of a wierd career. Had that blip in 89. Where he dropped two decisions back to back. I think one was against denis milton. Dont know that much about him but think he might have been a succesful olympian. You guys will probably know more about him. Then mcllellan got back to his early knockouts before going to points again for two fights back to back before picking his early ko,s back up again. Kind of looks like a fighter that went off the rails from time to time...not training properly. Because he knocked out better in the first round. Maybe arguments with steward or something like that. But seemed to get back on it again after that...even the best guys he fought went over the same way early as most of his victims. Jackson took him 5...remember it being a brutal fight and maybe the start of his problems. But he was one of them guys you knew even when he was fighting c class guys would be as good against the top guys. He was so well trained. Even just looking at him fight he pretty much had it all. Ferocious puncher. Fast. Sharp. Vicious. Great range. Great variety of shots. The only thing that you could really questionmark was stamina. We never really got to find out if it would unravel. Could argue it did against benn. But i agree with people that say he was damaged goods going in. He was struggling by the second/third round. Couldnt really argue it was being tight at the weight either cause i m pretty sure that was the super middleweight limit he,d just moved up for it. The thing is if there was ever a fighter that looked like they,d cause someone permanent damage in a ring...he,d be up for one of the most likely. Crazy how it worked out. Saying that benn would have been thereabouts also. As the guy above said his career probably would have been on the downward spiral anyway especially with the clown in the corner. But definetely think he had potential to be a great if things played out differently. Looked unbelievable at his best.
Is ggg allowed to be prime too ? Ggg by terrible Ko, prime or not, ggg on a whole different level in a completely different building
Honestly i dont think golovkin gets out them first three rounds. I know people will disagree with that. Golovkin doesnt have many flaws but a lot of his games built on his offence. What happens when hes probably even outgunned offensively. Are you gonna cut off the ring on someone that hits just as hard as you or someone for me thats a better one punch hitter. Golovkins shots are solid hes done people with one shot before but he usually gets people with an accumulation. Whereas mcllellan more punched through you. For me he was the more dangerous of the two punchers. Mclellans footwork was also very good himself. Not only did he punch like a mule he was a mover as well. Pretty hard thing to find that. Most of these guys that can hit are usually pretty basic. Its about the only style i think that will beat golovkin tbf. Got to be able to hit hard and move very well. Otherwise your in for a long night. I d also fancy jackson to beat golovkin as well. Didnt move as well as mcllellan but probably maybe even hit harder or just as hard anyway. The guys golovkins fighting are no match for him atm. A lot of them are static. Most of them cant do him serious damage. The few that had big power didnt really have the tools. Golovkins chin does look great but if guys like that hit you right...it doesnt matter how good your chin is. Be interested to see reach difference between the two. Golovkins class i m not disagreeing with that...but lets put things into perspective. He took murray 11 rounds to get out of there. Brook was no match physically but he caused him problems. And that guy hes fighting tomorrows not near the level of guys like mcllellan or jackson. We could argue about mclellans record also. I m putting that down to problems in his career more than his ability. For this to be a credible argument you,d probably have to do the same also tbf.
Just to add there was a seven inch reach advantage in mclellans favour. Reach of 77 inches to golovkins 70 inch reach.
jesus. No 35yr old man is in his prime. A man's physical prime is age 26. This is true in any sport. 23 is a bit green, 29 is a bit long in the tooth. Everything on the wrong side of 30 is a step further down hill. Some guys appear "better than ever" after 30, but that is just their skills as professionals improving. They likely came to the sport later. Leonard vs. Hearns is a classic because it was a pitched battle between two young prime men. 25yr old vs a 22 yr old. both had been boxing since they were small boys.