How Famous were Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank in the UK ?

Very famous.

Frank Bruno was on his own level back then in terms of famous boxers and sportsmen but Benn and Eubank were right up there in terms of sporting personalities. The viewing figures on a Saturday night for their fights when they were on national television would embarrass PPV figures today. The first Benn-Eubank fight on ITV had 16.5 million people in the UK watching it. The fact that the whole nation could watch them for free at a sensible time of the day helped their popularity. They were on mainstream TV like chatshows - bona fide superstars.

 

They still are extremely famous.

I went to a meet and greet and an auction in Blackpool, and everyone there was about 40, and they absolutely swooned over them. I can only assume absolutely mega famous.

 

Absolutely giants of my childhood.

Eubank, Benn, Watson, Ian Wright, Rocastle, Paul Davis, Paul Ince, John Barnes, Shadow from Gladiators ...

Put it like this - they were front row and centre on ITV (UK terrestrial channel) and then Eubank got the Sky Sports deal - all over The Sun and every other red top paper with all the pecularities of Chris' antics.

 

I've been under the impression Hamed was on a similar level, is that true or just something my dad has impressed upon me.

 

Were massive.
Benn was very popular mostly.
Eubank wasn't... mostly.lol
But no one doubted either s dislike of each other.
Shame there was no third fight.

 

He pretty much was but he didn’t have the national rivalry like Benn and Eubank had with each other. I’m pretty sure he started on ITV too, so that helped give him a UK audience before he switched over to Sky and PPV stuff. He was a bit similar to Eubank in that people loved to hate him.

 

Hamed was massive, his fights were always well watched I believe.
But it was probably by a fair percentage that wanted him to lose.

 

Hamed took what Eubank did and ran with it.

Flipped over the ropes instead of vaulting, knocked men out, much more vicious puncher, had all the talk and the ring entrances and then ... MAB.

Naz took full advantage of the growth of Sky Sports but as we've seen couldn't match the out of ring celebrity that Chris has. However, whilst they boxed, comparatively, Naz was massive, not sure if he was as big as Chris at his height but he was massive and had attention from the States but the HBO thing and the effect of The Twin Towers and how the sentiment changed on him - stars didn't align as I thought they would for him.

 

This sums it up perfectly. It was a different age, with national tv coverage and major press interest in the build up to their fights. Not sure we will see the likes of those days again.

 

Naz was really big in the mid-late 90s. Possibly not at the level of Eubank -Benn, as they had a fierce rivalry, and Sky had scooped up most of the big stars by then. But he was still really well known, largely due to his personality, and KO power. He really carried British boxing for a while, and tried to crack America.
For what it's worth, I used to really like Naz. He does get stick in some quarters, mainly due to the MAB loss. But he beat some very good fighters a long the way and, for a brief time, looked like a potential ATG. But he became too power reliant, lost some of his elusiveness and hated to train. By the turn of the millennium he was starting to look more and more vulnerable, but his power often bailed him out. I think by the time of the Barrera loss his heart wasn't really in it to rededicate and come back stronger. I don't actually think Naz fulfilled his potential. But it was fun while it lasted.

 

In their dreams they were as popular as Richard Dunn.

 

I might be wrong but I do remember hearing that Naz claimed that Eubank stole the whole jumping over the ropes idea (Eubank couldn´t vault over like Hamed) from him on seeing him doing it at Brendan Ingle´s gym whilst probably sparring with Herol Graham early in Chris career.

Naz and Eubank didn´t like each other and got into a slapping contest at a airport.

Would pay to see that!
https://talksport.com/boxing/703611...ights-naseem-hamed-chris-eubank-joe-calzaghe/

 

You remember it clearly.

The problem with Naz's claim is that Eubank talked about it and referred to a young Naz watching him vault over the ropes in awe as a young teenager (which is clearly shown after Chris says it, with video footage to verify it) and followed it up with the assertion that he had been doing it since the 80s.

Given who both men have proved themselves to be inside and outside the ring, I tend to side with Chris' take on things.