Pictures of Gerald Mclellan...

You are totally correct. It's just sad that G-man was such an *******, so he doesn't have many supporters, and the only thing people remember is the dogfighting, the brain damage and his bad attitude.

 

Literally brings a tear to the eye.

 

No matter what we may think, he didn't deserve this fate.

 

Exactly. People making fun of him should maybe have the experience themselves, see how funny it is then.

 

my feelings exactly......**** him

 

Lampley, you’re beginning to sound like one of those ******ed Klitschko fans who refuse to accept Lewis’ victory over Vitali because it came as a result of a cuts stoppage. Just like Vitali’s face was getting cut into ribbons as a result of Lewis’ punches, similarly, McClellan’s ‘condition’ was brought about by Benn’s punches. You say that British fight fans overly romanticise about the fight, well American fight fans are equally at fault in their repeated and worthless attempts to discredit Benn’s achievement.

Here is how history ultimately records the fight:

Benn KO10 McClellan

You’d do well to remember that. McClellan would not have beaten Nigel Benn on any night under any circumstances, either way you want to cut it, Nigel Benn was the superior fighter. If McClellan had a soft head then too bad, Benn didn’t – Point Benn.

 

Benn won due to guts, heart and determination, if you aren't willing to give him any credit for that fight you are either another predjudiced American or just a plain idiot who can't recognise courage when he see's it. And if Mclellan was dominating so much and was so far ahead and able to win when he collapsed why was his mouthpiece coming out due to fatigue? the bout was fought equally which is why it is so legendary, this was no one sided affair.

 

He did not in any way, shape or form, ‘dominate the fight’. If he had dominated the fight then the fight would not be considered the modern day seesaw classic that it is. I have seen that fight probably in excess of 50+ times, it is probably my favourite fight of all time. McClellan exploded out of the blocks just like we all knew he would, he dominated the early rounds but from 3 onwards Benn was the one doing all the hurting. McClellan rallied in one of the later rounds but even then, as Benn was put down once again, I still knew Benn would prevail as the damage he had inflicted on McClellan’s soft head (yes, his head was soft, other men have endured similar even worse beatings without sustaining brain injuries) started to take its toll. The rabbit punching theory is equally spurious, watch the fight again and you’ll notice that McClellan himself also did his fair share of rabbit punching to Benn. Benn was just too ****ing tough for the American.

 

Fallow,

You seem to be taking this personally, and you shouldn't be. I give Benn all credit for fighting the guy in front of him that night, and it certainly was one of the great displays of courage you'll ever see. He deserved to win, based on that alone.

But to say McClellan had a "soft head" is fairly ignorant. It was a fluke injury that may or may not (if what Sweet Pea says is true) have had anything to do with Benn or that bout at all.

Despite being under extreme duress and struggling with his breathing (the mouthpiece dangling probably was due to the growing blood clot, or maybe it just didn't fit very well), he still nearly KOd Benn, and likely would have if he could have just finished the fight. Let's not overlook Gerald's courage in the fight, either.

McCellan was the superior fighter, and at that point in their careers by a substantial margin. Benn fought bravely and landed a bunch of good shots even in the 2nd round (before the real problems set it), but he was on a clock to getting KOd. Only thing was, Gerald was another clock of not being able to breathe.

Don't you understand now that the mere Benn KO10 McClellan doesn't exactly do this fight justice?

 

There also was a clash of heads in there, either very serious or nothing but Benn's braids, depending on whom you ask.

I also have a copy of the fight and watch it occasionally, which is wildly brutal and morbidly fascinating. The pre-fight buildup was extremely nasty, and Benn I think gets a lot of unfair criticism for his remarks immediately after the fight.

It still amazes me that G-Man's corner didn't stop the fight much earlier. Everyone sitting at ringside with the exception of the American announcers seemed to understand there was a problem, and his corner should have been able to figure it out more quickly. I've heard (Sweet Pea, maybe you know this) that he started complaining early and told them what was happening, but they still failed to act out of fear or for whatever reason.

 

I'm not doubting you, I just hadn't heard that before. It's been speculated that he had the injury beforehand, I'm sure of that, but the only direct King story I can remember along those lines pertains to Ali/Frazier. But surely he's gone that route on many occasions.

 

A bit of romanticising going on here. I remember both fighters rabbit punching badly, and McClellan even starting it. From then on Nigel Benn did it back and it turned into a dirty fight and a brutal war.

How does anyone know McClellan had '50%' brain damage prior to the fight...is there a source, a link, or just pure idle gossip?

 

You can break this fight down, attempt to shift the focus away from the result and instead concentrate on semantics but it won’t wash. If McClellan was the superior fighter then he would not have lost to Benn, it really is that simple.

The whole “McClellan was carrying a grave brain injury into the ring with him” is simply yet another lame excuse typically applied retrospectively and can be added to the **** pile along with Wlad’s infamous blood-sugar deficiency.

It wasn’t until round 7 that McClellan started hanging his gum shield out – FACT. He was good for the 6 rounds prior yet still found himself down on the scorecards at that point (albeit marginally). Were it not for the knock down in the 8th Benn would have been clearly ahead.

The ref gave Benn a long count? Are people still clinging onto that limp-dicked excuse? I thought that one was buried years ago when the genius exponents of this theory realised much to their dismay that when a fighter is knocked out of the ring he is entitled by rule to an extended count.

I thought McClellan showed tremendous heart in that fight, and I believe some of the things written about him and his alleged lack of courage was extremely harsh. However, Benn was the better fighter, he managed to negate much of McClellan’s typically straight line power via the use of simple bob and weave tactics. Benn’s boxing skills were highly underrated and he had built up a lead prior to McClellan suffering the effects of his brain injury.

 

i'm not disputing it but where did this 'king paid off the doctors' rumour come from?

 

cheers sweet pea. i remember seeing an interview some years back with a member of the g-mans team who talked about gerald suffering horrific headaches and migranes after the jackson fight and king apparently not giving two shits because he didn't want to have a potential cash cow retire.