How good was Nigel Benn?

The first Eubank fight was a grudge match and Benn fought like a wally.

Watch him against McLellan and that tells you all you need to know about Nigel Benn.

 

damn good
reminds me a little like froch warrior mentallity

 

He was exciting but very limited. Traded endurance and defensive nous for a lot of his power at SMW. Was a slightly better fighter for it overall but without his equalizer his chances of beating a top fighter without shitloads of luck along the way was badly damaged.

But was never on Froch's level. Or Watson's. Or Graham's. Or even Collins'.

Limited.

 

His fight against McLellan was a war and was Benn's finest hour, bravery won and nobody had the heart of Nigel.

A true legend and warrior.

 

He was not a great fighter, by career, but if he matched up well with you on his top form he was not only very good but could put on a great performance.

 

Great fighter with almost unlimited physical ability. He power-punched perfectly with very little effort and immense velocity, had a lightning non-power right hand, was very mobile, very fast across the ring (see DeWitt fight following one of the KDs!), and was extremely awkward to nail cleanly due to an unorthodox, ducking, bobbing, slipping, weaving defense, and could counter-punch off the ropes as well as anyone.

He also had this freaky recuperative ability, as in when badly shaken and wobbling he seemed even more dangerous than at a stand-off, like a light switch he could turn into huge shots with his head cleared.

Very rarely not in a highly exciting fight. So, yeah, he was a bit special.

Knocked out Doug DeWitt, Iran Barkley, Robbie Sims and Gerald McClellan which were incredible results considering the fighters who failed to do so (Hearns, Duran, Jackson, Barkley himself, etc). They were the toughest Yanks out there!

He also looked to have beaten Eubank in their rematch with highly unpredictably tricky thinking boxing, and always seemed to win when he was predicted to lose (Galvano in Italy, unbeaten destroyer Wharton, etc).

Huge favourite against Mike Watson, and was exposed as overhyped, easy-riding, non-defensed, one-dimensional.... that was earlier on though. Looked equally **** against Logan prior. He got better and by the time he was WBC king (for 10 straight defenses in a few short years), it was rare to see him waste a punch. He looked excellent in two fights against monstrous peak Steve Collins, bobbing and weaving and left-hooking as well as a prime Joe Frazier it seemed, but his corner kept telling him 'I won't see you take a beating' etc when they were 50-50 scraps!? Bad cornerwork cost him one or two of his greatest victories at the end.

Always struggled to get past Sugar Boy Malinga's back-footed, ultra-long left jab, though. He would never have beaten Malinga. Styles.

Great fighter. The Barkley and McClellan performances shocked the world, and the Benn-Eubank fights stopped the country.

 

scary power as a middleweight

as an aside, and I don't want to be petty or start an argument, but us irish and the brits banter about the irish claiming people like macklin, yet why do the brits always categorise collins as one of their own? the man is from dublin, hes as irish as the blarney stone

 

Admittedly, he was completely schooled by Chris Eubank (then again, who wasn't?). He struggled to avoid any of Eubank's rights and flurries, which were timed perfectly, and struggled to get in position to land at full-pelt, due to Eubank's ring generalship and foot movement. Though the body shots almost broke Chris in half, and had him 'excreting blood for four weeks after' (!) as well as sporting a broken rib and bruised black flesh. Benn had sickening power.

 

Good enough to hang with Simply The Best.


Nice debutant post, btw.

(didn't we used to have some restriction on anyone with < 50 posts creating threads, though? :huh)

 

Benn actually mentioned moving up to LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT in the post-fight conference after the Robbie Sims fight (Marvin Hagler advised him not to, and told him he would KO Mike Nunn), mentioning Dennis Andries.

 

That would of been a big mistake, figuratively and literally. Benn was a small 168lber; I think Andries would of eaten up at the time.

 

Benn was awesome, great athletic ability, unbelievable heart and determination to win. Seemed to really adapt and improve as he got older, look at how he fought against Watson and Eubank in the first fight, to how he fought Eubank in the rematch and how he brought it all together against McClellan. One of the best highlight reel fighters in the history of the sport.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFMPwBHVauw[/url]


Unfortunately Nige seems to get sold short these days, I've seen him described as a bum on the general forum, but then that's the general forum for you

 

that is nearly as bad a that apatheticleaders post,total disgracefull post by that knob.

please chris/atberry post eubank/benn 1 and show me the schooling eubank gave benn :roll:
it was a ****ing great fight with both taking a beating,only eubanks awesome chin and benn just wanting to knock his ****ing head off with every punch hence blowing himself out.
****ing schooling,twat

 

Eubank didn't take a single punch in the opening round, and only took a couple of punches in the next couple of rounds. Benn started working the body out of clinches after a few rounds, though, and caused damage to Eubank til the end - but in terms of head shots, only a few power-laced sudden single rights got in and they were early. Eubank landed dozens of fast lead right hands with no measuring stick required, unleashed bursts of flashy flurries frequently, and kept Benn off-balance with his movement and timing. Then in rounds 5-7, it was a cautious chess match with lots of outside feinting, in which Eubank countered Benn extremely well. The eighth saw a flash knockdown against Eubank, but it was more a slip on water on the canvas. The ninth, Eubank beat him into submission with dozens of unanswered shots.

Eubank also came very, very close to stopping Benn at the end of the second round, with a beautiful counter left hook and follow-up flurry.

Pull your head out your ass.