During there early careers, these two men took the term "Bad Man" to another level. Who out of these two fighters was the most furious and destructive force pound for pound early on in there careers... before they became champion. Who had the most impact, for you the viewers watching.. Before Nigel Benn faced Michael Watson, he had won every fight by knock out, vicious violent beat downs.
equal.and thats saying something because near enough nobody ended fights as violently as mike but nigel was 1 guy who did.
benn was the sort of guy who enjoyed inflicting pain on his opponent in the ring. he had a ****ing nasty streak in him during his younger years.
its ironic that don king introduced mclellan to the british public as a mini mike tyson when we already had one here. tyson was probably even more ferocious than benn though. benn was probably more disciplined. maybe my 2 favorite fighters.
Tyson was more destructive in terms of the way he combined speed and power. But Benn during his early days was probably more lethal and sadistic.
Its atitude aswell/personna.. Mike Tyson was very sadistic.. Nigel Benn just came across as a bad man, i cannot really describe it. I remember watching Nigel Benn beat the **** out of Nicky Piper, Nicky Piper years later on sky tv was saying.. "Oh i think Nigel Benn's punches where overrated, they where bouncing off me"...Nicky Pipper trying to act all tough. He was raped that night, and i was laughing. Because not once did Nigel Benn, look to the referee..."to say come on step in"...none of that from Nigel Benn. "None of this Roy Jone's attitude..etc etc" Its fighters like Nigel Benn and Mike Tyson that reach beyond race or culture, Mike Tyson has fans from the KKK.
benn was not a nice man for most of the time out of the ring, although he could be very amiable. not on the level of madness of tyson. i think both of them had split personalitys to a degree, one minute charming, the next dangerous and moody .
whenever i see either of them fight ivan drago comes into my head. "if he dies he dies" that was the way they fight. they punch you with everything they got untill the ref stops them. no show boating or looking at the ref to stand in and stop the man getting hurt they would hit on you and keep on hitting on you
Benn should never be mentioned in the same SENTENCE as Tyson. Mike was by far a more talented, more skilled, more accomplished fighter, and the aura surrounding him made Mike more intimidating.
a) that wasn't the point b) I think Nigel is definitely worthy of being in the same sentence as Tyson. If you knew anything about WORLD boxing in the late 80's early 90's you'd know that Eubank/Watson/Benn should be held in equal acclaim to Toney/Jones/McClellan etc.