Ward is the future pound for pound top dog once Floyd moves on. Ward would neutralize Benn and win this one on the cards.
Benn, the hardest puncher Eubank faced? No **** - he didn't face another puncher in his career, with the exception of Carl Thompson. Big whoop. Benn quite quickly realised that he didn't have one punch power at 168, and looked unimpressive in his first fights at the weight - trading on his aggression to get the job done instead of pure power. He knew he couldn't do it at a higher level, so he adjusted his style. Benn did punch himself out against Watson, but there's a bigger issue here: He was outclassed. Completely, totally outclassed. And if wasn't for a savage headbutt and a possibly pre-existing brain condition, he'd have got destroyed by McClellan. Bika is a better fighter than anyone Benn (or Eubank) has ever dominated, and Froch + Kessler are better than Eubank and Benn ever were. I love how people constantly massively overrate the British 90s supermiddles.
For some reason, Nigel Benn has a real cult following that get very emotional any time he gets picked against. It is reasonable to think Benn could win but the wild outlash against any pro-Ward posts is a joke. I have Ward winning this on points.
Nigel Benn had the kind of power that made a world class fighter question if he'd ever actually been hit hard before that point, the type of power that made a world class fighter question his masculinity, Ward would need to be at his absolute best every second of every round to beat Benn. It's very easy to say "Oh Ward is several classes above Benn" but its just not that simple
This is nonsense. Im no fan of Benn, he is overrated these days. But to say Froch and Kessler are better than Benn and Eubank is clearly wrong. I'd happily say all four fighters would be competitive.
Nobody over-rated Benns boxing ability, but the guy could ****ing hit, when he punched a guy (if they werent knocked out cold already) from Barkley to McClellan, they had a look of sheer shock, the "deer in the headlights" look as if they were a bully at school who just got punched on the chin for the first time. Is Ward a better boxer than Benn? abso-****ing-lutely, but if Ward thought that Alfonso Rocha hit him hard when he knocked him on his ass, I would love to see his reaction after a few flush hooks from Benn.
Fair enough, it would be a fight Ward would never be totally comfortable in. His lights could go out at any time. I just think Benn's explosive style makes him heavily favoured in these types of discussions, more favoured than his record suggests he should be.
i think ward would be a type of fighter i would choose to beat benn. can mix it up on the inside but can move out of range and drop counters while also being able to get gritty and dirty with it. BUT it's nigel. power wise he can defintly spark him out. his abilty to land punches at the angles while staing out of punchign range is pretty underated. a boxing mind in a sluggers body. his abilty to land the punch while thy are throwing people forget that he counterpunched eubank all night in the rematch. he came foreward chris obliged with a right cross benn moved and landed right or a left when eubank was going in to close the gap and clinch. a much better version technician wise than his pre 93 days. but the way he fell apart so rapidly in 3 years. to a guy who couldnt get out of the way of punches. even by McClellan he took way too much punishment. i do think ward can beat him though and possibly convincingly. but i have no doubts benn could sit him down and not out of the realms of possablity to get caught by a right hand start to wobble and benn wouldnt let him off the hook. and i think most would agree benn could knock him out.
So, the crux of your argument is that Benn was an underrated boxer, shown by his counterpunching Eubank in the rematch? The same Eubank that was completely and totally useless when made to initiate attacks? As for knocking Ward spark out, Benn knocked ONE fighter spark out at supermiddle. One. Just one. And it wasn't even a half-decent fighter for a title challenger. So you tell me, do you think Danny Perez was at or around the same level as Andre Ward?
Ward would beat him by just sound boxing and technical skills. He wouldnt lose to someoen like Malinga as I previously stated.
By your logic, you're saying Bika would have ruled the smw division in Eubank and benns era.atsch Benn was a huge hitter, but you don't have to hit heavy to break Wards glass jaw. Ward lost a fair few rounds to a one dimensional SLOW as hell Froch, got caught a lot, despite having a massive speed advantage, safe to say Benn would not only catch him, but KO him very early. McClennan and Eubank would also KO Ward. Wards resume is weak, i repeat, a barely active blinded Kessler, midget AA, statue gatekeeper Green, Very close shave B level Bika, and robotic plodding 1 dimensional Froch. Where has Ward faced anyone that is fast, powerful and relentless? i's an alien entity to him, he would be in for a shock if he fought someone like that. Benn on the othe rhand fought and dealth with technical tacticians, except ones that had chins and power, two things Ward lacks.:deal