Michael Nunn vs Nigel Benn

Mr Kalambay may disagree...

But I get your general point!

 

nunn ud.

 

He lacked ring generalship, dedication and ana bility to consistently put his tools together into something coherent.PReferring to clown around and coast.

I say again, apart from a brief run, the guy was a damn fraud who gave us some of the worst performances ever from a supposedly talented fighter.

 

Very harsh! Perhaps the guy never truly fulfilled his promise, but he had a pretty good career nonetheless, only lost 4 times in a long career and held versions of the MW and SMW titles.

 

Benn saw Nunn as a potential target before he fought Tate even, and Dan Goosen had tapes of Nigel.

Nunn was ringside at Benn-Watson, as were Chris Eubank and Roy Jones! Nunn, Eubank and Jones all wanted the next NBC date with Benn, 'when' he knocked decent-record'd, good-physiqued Watson out.

Realistically, the only decent fighter Benn went and fought (up to around that point) - Watson - he lost to. He'd only been a pro about a couple of years. Whereas Nunn had piled up a nice resume, underdog against Tate and Kalambay but coming out with 15-round dominations and one-round blow-outs. Some even made him underdog against Barkley.

Benn's power punching looked super and he had charisma, he was exciting. He had a great record of early KO's. But was he in Nunn's league?

He certainly proved something in his five fights Stateside, big things against DeWitt and Barkley, taking them out where Tommy Hearns's right-hand failed.

Nunn liked leaning away from punches on the move and Benn loved space to get leverage and momentum to his punches, loved being able to get his bodyweight forward and launch himself into those super power punches, and not just against bums but Barkley shipped some and went and granite-chinned, elusive mover Eubank shipped some.

But would Nunn have a field day peppering a naive version of Benn with long quick shots on the backfoot? Would Benn have the stamina to pack punches with true force beyond five or six, or even four rounds? Remember, if you miss a punch it takes more out of you...

Wisely you'd pick Nunn in a late-ish stoppage, but unwisely you'd write Benn off in not being able to knock him out in the first four.

 

If they finally fought in 1994 or 1995, it would have been interesting, though not as. Both lost abit of their speed and zap. Benn had the ability to move in and out a lot by then and keep his shoulders moving without throwing... better stamina, less mistakes, very, very good head and upper body movement and more guile. Nunn on the other hand had declined in all areas, other than maybe body punching (that suddenly became terrific in the fight with Crawford Ashley).

 

Nunn at his best TKO's Benn in a one sided fight.

 

Nunn was better and more talented than Watson.

 

Michael Nunn wasn't a fraud, he was a victim of circumstance. He had looked elusive, and very good, a potential world champion as he was coming up through the ranks as youngster. Managed well by the Goosen's, he eventually got that shot against Tate, who had beaten him as an Amateur, and what transpired was an awe inspiring display of Boxing. Nunn put it altogether that night, stopping a good fighter in Tate, who'd never recover.

As for Nunn's career, he was guilty of some pedestrian performances after he first won his title. He chopped and changed his style, I believe, to cater for his ambition. Let's not forget, this guy was being groomed as a big star, some were saying he was the second coming of Sugar Ray Leonard. He had the looks, he had the talent, but his early style was not going to cut it with HBO and American audiences. He changed his style, he sat down more on his punches and he began to showboat. This made him easier to hit.

That said, despite his poor performances, albeit winning ones, against Curry, Barkley, and Starling, he was performing very well against Toney prior to the knockout. Toney, at the time, wasn't seen as much of threat, but now we know that Nunn was up against a very, very good fighter indeed, and I had Michael up a couple of points prior to that huge shot that shut Nunn down. Was it a fluke like Nunn's knockout over Kalambay was supposedly a fluke?

Nunn was a great fighter, had a lot of talent, but he was under too much pressure and he simply couldn't handle it. He turned to drugs after the Toney loss, and you show me a professional fighter on drugs who was performing at a high level, and I'll be shocked.

As a side note, Michael Nunn embarrasses Nigel Benn on route to a late stoppage. Benn will be hot for a round or two, coming out in his usual lights out fashion, but then he'll begin to get picked off by the faster hands of Nunn, and his angles and movement would frustrate Benn to the point where he'd be so concerned with a knockout that'd he'd probably find himself on the end of a solid left himself. Benn had a lot of power, a lot of heart, but I don't have a lot of confidence in his punch resistance and Nunn could hit.

 

yeah poor comparison by me 3years ago man when I became a user to an addict anyways ignore it please

 

Could it be that Nunn is one of those fighters who needs to be challenging for a title to keep his desire burning? His performances certainly dropped off after winning the championship.

In light of this, I pick Nunn to either win and retain the title by UD or, if he is defending against Benn, to lose by mid round KO.

 

Interesting point, if a young Benn was challenging Nunn... would Nunn even take a wild Brit seriously?

I don't think Barkley took him all that seriously even after the horrific one-sided beatdown of ultra-tough, known DeWitt. (Neither did McClellan, after Benn had already had a great long career!)

 

I think the Benn that beat McClellan would have beaten Nunn - But would favour Nunn against any other Benn

Benn really should have thrown his belt into the garbage after beating McClellan then he would have had greatness bestowed on him by fans claiming he would of beat etc etc etc

Riddick Bowe used this method of non-fighting and ducking to become the apologists favourite, and most over-rated heavyweight of all time.