I was wondering why benn moved from 160 to 168, was it because he couldn't make the MW limit or was it a case of chasing eubank who had moved up, because he looked far more dangerous at 160.:good
I felt he was a better 168 than 160, though not as big a puncher -though still huge. He was probably having grief making 160, and was also desperate for the rematch with Chris Eubank, and rightly so.
Probably because wanted to bash Eubanks head in. I'm not sure of te real reason to be honest. Looking at their records they both moved around the same time... Eubanks first fight at 168 - 09/91 Benn-s 10/91
I don't think his power was the same after he moved up, but he adjusted and became more a patient and calm fighter. IIRC he usually looked the smaller man in the ring when he fought at 168.
Eubank was not prepared to make 160 in the Watson rematch, thus they rematched at 168. This left Benn with little choice other than to move up to 168 if he wanted big money bouts.
he was a solid framed middleweight i didnt think it was a grief issue to stay at 160 as he never blew up and always stayed trim. he liked being fit and lean...a very good work ethic in my opinion. perosnally i think he was too small for 174 and a bit for 168 but what made benn so good at 168 was his boxing abilty just shot thru the roof. shoulder rolls counters a ice solid jab. somthing that surprised me was how benn outboxed eubank pretty smartly in the rematch. by then.168 was the place to be. leonard and hearns were in the area aswell., toney was moving up, jones was moving, barkley had already done so and you had nunn who did you know was campeigning in europe, trying to get a unification fight with the winner of eubank vs benn II to which they had ended in a draw which is a great sense of humor by lady luck. then he lost to little and that was it. POINT is 168 was a good cracking little division it widend with guys who were struggling with 160 and guys who were soft at 174. there were now more belts going around so unification and undisputed type words were in the air. he weighed 165 for a majority of his amatuer career so he didnt mind putting on extra poundage. leonard former pound 4 pound numero uno hearns first 4 weight world champion toney top pound 4 pounder
Cheers for that, Eubank Benn II out of interest who did you have winning it. Obviously I watched the replays during the years as I was only eight at the time and I thought benn did enough to sneak it.
I was there miles away and it was thought Benn was unlucky. Watching a TV replay a draw seemed fair to me.