Great doco: benn/mcclellan FIGHT OF THEIR LIVES.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTc955FzLTE&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

 

An interesting addendum:


"Growing up blocks from the Kronk Gym I think I could actually hear the punches coming out of that window-less sweat box over on Junction and McGraw as a kid. When I made my first pilgrimage to the Kronk it was about the time Gerald McClell...an had just captured the WBO Middleweight Championship from John "The Beast" Mugabi.

One word to describe McClellan at Kronk was ferocious. Like most Kronksters, he did not know the meaning of "going light" when sparring. G-Man would take pleasure it seemed in leaving sparring partners crumbled over on the canvas with his signature "lead right hand followed by a crippling left hook to the body". A lot of people forget, Thomas Hearns had a tremendous left hook to the body, but Gerald had the best in Kronk history! McClellan remains the last true World Champion to come out of the Kronk basement. Sure many "Kronk fighters" have went on to win championships, but as my man Tarick Salmaci put it best, "Just because you wear a Kronk shirt, doesn't make you a Kronk fighter."

The night that Gerald McClellan lost to Nigel Benn and sustained injuries he is still battling today, an interesting thing happened. While watching the fight on TV, Salmaci called me from Florida and told me the following story. Now for the first time ever, in his own words he will tell the readers of BoxingConfidential that same story.

"I feel Gerald McClellan was already injured going into the Nigel Benn fight, I have a strong belief. There as this one time Gerald and I were sparring and I hit him with a solid jab in the middle of his forehead, like between the eyebrows...He told me "STOP, HOLD UP"! YOU THUMBED ME MAN. So he stopped and started blinking non stop from what I thought was a thumb. I never even felt like I thumbed him, and they were thumbless gloves so I just figured somehow my thumb must have poked him in the eye because of the way he was blinking really fast and non-stop..with both eyes though.

So we finish our sparring session, and we are in the back locker room at Kronk, this is like 1994, Gerald walks up to me and says, "Man, I'm gonna be honest with you...You didn't thumb me...You hurt me". "I'm man enough to say that". I was then kind of confused and surprised as to how I could of hurt him with a jab and I was fighting at 147lbs. and he was weighing probably 175 lbs....

Fast forward to 1995. I'm down in Florida negotiating a promotional contract with Don King. Mike Marley brought me down there as a matter of fact. Gerald is in Florida training for the Nigel Benn fight. I run into him at Don King's office and we talk and joke a little bit. Gerald is sitting in Dana Jamison's office. She is the vice president of Don King Productions. Gerald is sitting there looking a little upset.

I asked him what was going on, and he told me he was only making something like $100,000 for the Benn fight. It might have been less.I don't remember what he said the exact amount was, but I remember it was pretty low for the caliber of fight this was. So I spoke my mind and told him I thought he was getting way underpaid and Nigel Benn is huge in England. Plus the fight was taking place there, which makes it an even bigger event. And Gerald was a World Champion.

thought that fight was worth at least a million dollars for Gerald, if not, at least $500,000. But Dana overheard me telling Gerald this, and she barges into the office telling me off, telling me to mind my business, etc. I was like "whatever". So I left the office and went to the gym.

About 2 weeks later, Gerald leaves to England for the Nigel Benn fight. I'm watching it on Showtime from Florida. I thought Benn was finished in the first round. (NOTE: If that fight was held in the US, Benn would have not been allowed to continue!) I couldn't believe the comeback he made. It was amazing, but then, all of a sudden, in the 10th round, Gerald just takes a knee and appears to quit. I couldn't believe it because the Gerald I knew would never quit, no matter what. But then I looked more closely and he was blinking non-stop, the exact same way he was that one day in the Kronk gym when I hit him with that jab...blinking continuosley...non stop....I couldn't believe it. Right then, I knew there was a connection to that one day that we sparred in the gym. We all know what happened to Gerald after that fight...

To this day, I believe Nigel Benn did not do that to Gerald. Gerald McClellan was hurt prior to the Nigel Benn fight and never knew it. It was just one of those freak accidents that was bound to happen sooner or later. I have not seen him since that day in 1995 in Don Kings office. But, from what I'm told, he is nearly blind and nearly deaf. And his mental state is not all that well.

I wish there was something I could do for Gerald. This was my friend. It hurt me to know what happened to him that fateful night. It also hurt to see Don King walk into the ring with Gerald, but then walk over him when Gerald was laid out, then walk out of the ring with Nigel Benn. All I seen Don King doing was smiling, laughing, while raising Nigel Benn's hands. And Gerald was just laid out. I'm not saying Don didn't care about Gerald, but it just did not look right from my TV set.

What I did find out was, that Don King was strictly business. I don't have no hate or any kind of grudges for Don King's actions because this was just the kind of guy he was. BUSINESS. But I just did not want to be part of his team after that spectacle. Something in me said,"This ain't right". I packed my bags and left the Don King camp the next day. I had just signed the promotional contract with King a week earlier. I went to Don's office the next day after the Gerald fight with my bags packed and asked Carl King to please release me. No investment was made on me thus far. So I asked him to please let me go. To Carl's credit, he did. He seen the look in my eyes and that even if he disagreed, I'd be out of there. He voided the contract and let me go my way. To this day, I thank Carl King for that.

I'll never regret doing what I did. I felt it was the right decision. You learn from these experiences whether it was a right decision or wrong. To this day, I still feel what I did was right. No, I never became a world champion, although I was close. I was rated in the top 10 by the WBC and the WBO. I finally did get a shot at the big time when I was chosen as one of the fighters on The Contender, season one. The experience was cool, but the opportunity came 5 years to late. I was 32 yrs old, retired and inactive for 3 1/2 years when I appeared on The Contender.

But better late then never, right?

Getting back to Gerald. I hear about his condition every now and then. I have even given money towards his fund. I know it wont help dramatically, but hopefully, it will help a little. Nothing will ever help him become his normal self again. That's the sad part. But this is life, and its not always fair. We have to learn to accept certain things and learn to live with them. I think Gerald and his family have accepted this. We all should too.

Yes, this tragedy could have been avoided had Gerald known if there was something wrong in his head prior to the fight. In my opinion, there was. But what is done is done. This is part of life. We cant foretell the future. I wish Gerald the best, and God bless him. I love that guy. Hopefully, one day, I will get a chance to see my friend again...if not, my prayers will always be with him" Tarick Salmaci. "

 

The confusing part when you watch the fight closely...before the most obvious signs at the end when gerald finally took a knee, gerald was still moving and throwing hard shots in spurts. So even when it apoeared something wasnt right ( mouth guard, start of blinking) he would box or come back with something. Silly bugger kept doing stuff to say he was still in the fight.

Its hindsight, but only if he had of taken a knee when he first knew something was wrong. Just wasnt in him to do that i guess. Fighters who say beforehand "they will have to carry me out" etc etc are usually full of **** and talking Nonsense. No one really wants that. Id say gerald really did believe it.

* it mudt be a real drain and emotionally hard for his sister to give the full time care he requires. But tbh...i was a bit surprised how " good" gerald looked and appeared to have made some progress. :good