Question for the educated man - Was Eubank a better fighter than Benn (other than their head-to-heads)? They both had big hearts, but Eubank appeared to have more in the tank so was it a fitness thing in their personal duel. I always thought Benn was the bigger banger of the two but Eubank went up through the divisions.
It's actually quite hard to answer in my opinion. Of course we all know that Eubank was the better boxer and Benn the better fighter but can we read too much into that? I think Benn was winning by a point or 2 when he was stopped in Birmingham and would have won the fight if he hadn't had the point deduction. Even using a common foe in Michael Watson makes a comparrison difficult. Watson beat Benn and, some might argue also beat Eubank in their first fight. He was also, according to a lot of people, on the verge of beating Eubank in the re-match before Eubank landed one of the greatest punches ever thrown in a British ring. Even using Benn's record, which I believe has better names on it then Eubank's equivilant, can be counter argued against by Eubank's move up to Cruiserweight and giving one of the best in the World two of the toughest fights he ever had. So it all comes down to personal opinion. I personally edge towards Eubank but its a tough call. He did hide from the best in the World behind his WBO belt(s) but so did, of course, Joe Calzaghe for a significant period of his career. However those 2 fights against Thompson, for me, prove that we never saw how good Chris Eubank could have been. I honestly believe that he had the ability to have a good/excellent career at middle, super-middle, light-heavy and cruiser but Benn achieved everything he could possibly do.
I'm a Benn fan, so I've probably got Benn tinted glasses on. However, I'd say Eubank probably had better skills. But Benn acheived more. Eubank went down the WBO route and basically set the blueprint for Calzaghe's career. Eubank fought who he had to, but not necessarily all comers. Benn fought anyone and on any terms. And I dont care what them Yanks say, Toney avoided them both!
i preferred benn ,but still liked eubank ,i also liked watson and collins . they were all good fighters and benn was probably the most exciting fighter to watch since turpin
Benn was a fighter who gave it, took it, blasted it, whichever way it came. At his best I've never seen a better wrecking machine with the possible exception of McLellan. So when they met it was just carnage. Eubank was horrendous coming forward with those hoofin' windmills but at his own game he was top notch. He also has a huge lump of granite for a chin, no-one was ever going to knock him out clean. If Benn had Eubanks chin, he'd still be champ now!! Very different fighters both with huge hearts. I suppose Eubank had the "cleaner" record in their pomp but I slightly lean towards Benn for who he fought and what he achieved with a shakier chin than Mad Chris. Great times though weren't they!!!!
Benn was the better fighter. Eubank was very good too of course but Benn had the edge. Benns capability to recover was amazing and he shouldn't have been stoped in their first fight.
i think he meant Toney would've been to clever for Benn, not that Benn couldn't box, you misunderstood him.