25 years ago: Eubank vs Benn 2

I've always been a Benn guy myself. I liked his no nonsense take no prisoners blue collar approach. I thought he edged Eubanks in the rematch.
Eubanks although obviously skilled just turned me off with his posturing and preening. I never liked that in any fighter. In fact I begrudgingly only started liking Leonard about 5 yrs ago because I didnt like the way he carried himself. BTW theres 2 really good books out there on the subject of Benn Eubank and Watson. One is called The Hate Game and I forget the other title even though I own it but there both equally good.

 

I'm in the same boat,I loved that 90 s era of British middle/super middle. Loved the rivalry between Benn/Eubank/Watson.I actuality thought Benn had it in him to win the rematch ,but close enough. But yes,great time for boxing.

 

Crazy when you realise that one of the Benn vs Eubank fights was watched by 25+ million people on free TV, whereas now-days Arthur Abraham vs Eubank Jr is a PPV.

 

I was only 13 back then.

I loved Benn and hated Eubank.

It wasn’t until I got older that I really appreciated Eubank and realised he was playing a role in their rivalry. I was devastated that the rematch was classed as a draw. I was convinced that Benn had won even though I was biased. Although, Eubank himself was honest enough and agreed that Benn should have been awarded the decision. And if he had been awarded it, I’m sure that we’d have gotten a rubber match. But instead of that, we had to endure them battling it out as gladiators on a TV show.

Eubank’s view on the rematch:

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/other-sport/boxing/chris-eubank-nigel-benn-really-2934878

Benn-Eubank Gladiators:

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Regarding Benn and Eubank fighting the U.S. stars, Benn would have fought any of them, whereas Eubank has admitted on numerous occasions that he was content to just defend his WBO belt. In 1995, Benn really wanted to fight Roy Jones.

Eubank was so tough, I think he would have caused Roy and Toney trouble. But I think his work rate often let him down. Roy himself has said that Eubank would have been a hard fight for him. Personally, I think Roy would have been too fast for him. A Toney fight would have been very interesting, depending on what version of Toney had showed up.

They all would have been great fights. But they were so hard to make with 4 different orgs and rival networks and promoters. It’s the same old story: Boxing politics. Although if you look at the timelines of each fighter, they were mostly all doing their own thing. So I don’t think that anybody really ducked each other, and under different circumstances, they could all have fought each other and given us some great entertainment.

 

You could throw in Steve Collins as another. He was a guy with a style that just didn't accommodate Benn. Or Eubank for that matter. And then Calzaghe came up at that weight and took over. That sure was a long period of domination. What a ton of competitive matches. Not only did the Benn's and Eubank's fight, we actually got rematches.

Polar opposite of what was being fed to American tv in that weight division during that timeframe.

 

Eubank used to get hit far more than Toney and he beat McCallum, who destroyed Watson far better than Eubank did, his best chance against these guys was vs Hopkins who during Eubank`s era was nowhere near his best yet, as time went on he moved way above Eubank`s level, him vs Benn in `93 at middle or super middle would have been awesome because at that time Hopkins was just a polished slugger, which Benn kind of became by this stage, don`t know if Benn could make middle at this stage though, so it would have to happen at super middle, it would have ben a barn barner.

 

Abraham was older than Benn and Eubank were when they fought each other, no way would a fight between him and Eubank Jr have gotten 25 million+ viewing figures on terestrial TV.

 

Leonard was better than Eubank at middle.

 

I agree with that.
Crazy how any good fight now is automatically PPV now, Degale vs Eubank Jr, Abraham vs Jr, and Whyte vs Parker are not pay per view fights in my opinion.

 

Don't forget McCallum. He was a tremendous boxer and was unlucky to not be given the decision in his second fight against Toney, imo.

A great time for MW/SMW boxing though.

 

PhillyPhan69,
I enjoy reading your posts and respect your opinion but I feel that Benn/Eubank and Watson were a notch lower than RJJ/McCallum & Toney. In fact, there was a massive school of thought at the time in the UK that Benn/Eubank & Watson wanted no part of Bomber Graham in the late '80s & very early 90's - it's a view I absolutely subscribe to.

 

Sorry mate, but that's not exactly correct. Benn admitted live on the telly that he didn't want to fight Graham. But Graham didn't want to fight Eubank on account of being badly hurt by him in sparring. I think that Benn and Eubank would have fared well against McCallum and even Toney. Jones was just too good around that period for anybody though.

 

No need to apologise VB! I had heard that Graham was hurt by Eubank in sparring, but sparring is different from actual boxing, don't you agree? There are many factors/circumstances which make sparring different from a contest. I had not heard that this incident had influenced Graham's desire to get Eubank in the ring.

It felt to me at the time that Graham was chairman of the "who needs him" club (hat doffed to Reg Gutteridge) and that the other 3 were quite happy to make great money amongst themselves without risking the gravy train against Bomber.

I also believe that by the time Benn/Eubank & Watson emerged, Graham was already a smidgen past his unhittable best. I would have made pre-Jackson Graham a favourite over all 3.