This content is protected See guys, Frank W. didn't lose his touch. He's in fact rather consistent; his matchmaking has been marked by an uncanny grasp of parity for at least 32 years!
So was Chantler a "more than meets the naked eye" sort, then? On paper heading in against Benn he was a stone's throw from a .500 record and had been stopped half a dozen times already (though never early). Was he the kind that always gave opponents a spot of trouble or at least acquitted himself well in his losses?
Benn was a murderous puncher at 160 But my favourite young Benn fight was his battle against 80s German pornstar Rob Niewenhuizen who'd spent the previous six months to the fight being stretched on a rack in a dungeon in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. This content is protected
I don't remember him at all. I do remember Benn coming up and having a real aura about him. He was brutal in the ring and had a good back story as the Army champion turned pro. Maybe the depth of talent wasn't there in the domestic scene at the time even if he wasn't being carefully matched, but we knew that Benn had something about him.
I remember this fight & I remember Ian Chantler well (he stopped a friend of mine, Danny Garrison). Chantler had a reputation as a tough journeyman type in the 1980s British domestic circuit. He was stopped a lot after Benn, but beforehand not so often - no disgrace in being stopped by Michael Watson, Rocky Kelly, Tony Brown & (especially) the banger Mickey Hughes (these were pre-Benn). Chantler was not an unreasonable opponent for Benn at this point in Benn's career; Benn had only had a handful of pro bouts at this point; the way Benn crushed Chantler so swiftly and concussively was further evidence that Benn was truly an exceptional puncher at British domestic level. Performances like this confirmed that Benn had the kind of power that would carry him all the way to world class...
Stretched on a rack Fell right into the trap for that left hook...Benn was so exciting to watch, even against cans.
lol I remember buying a compilation of all his early KOs (probably from his first 20 fights) and he was an absolute wrecking machine back.
