Jones - Toney Benn- McClellan Calzaghe-Kessler Collins - Eubank These are in no order... Rate them from one to four.. One being the greatest win, 4 being the least greatest.
3, and the rest don't count. As Benn said in the ring immediately after the fight. " They brought this guy over here to beat me up, well they'd better send a better one next time. " In fairness he didn't realise the state McClellan was in at that moment.
Do you mean in terms of the quality of the fight, or the significance of the win? Is 1 the best or the worst?
Jones/Toney is the greatest stand-alone victory for any fighter in the history of the division. Toney was a reigning world champion, highly ranked by the organizations and pundits and considered the best fighter in the division, and Jones beat him with ease. The only other fight in the division's history that has a similarly dominant performance by one fighter over another is Calzaghe/Lacy but Jones/Toney ranks lightyears above that because Toney was vastly superior to Lacy. Eubank/Benn is the single biggest stand-alone event in the divisions history. Unification fight between WBO and WBC World Champion, both fighter top five ranked Super Middleweights with a history with each other that added intrege to not only the British audience but also the global one as it was watched reportedly by half a billion people. It was a great fight, though it did not live up to the brutality of the first, and the controversy of the result, where many thought Benn deserving of the win and were outraged at the draw, does tarnish it slightly however no other fight in the division's history has attracted as much interest as Benn/Eubank 2. Benn/McClellan is one of the great upsets in the division's history, matching Calzaghe/Lacy in terms of how badly predictions went wrong. McClellan was rated 8th in the Pound-for-pound rankings at the time, was considered one of the most dangerous fighters in the world and some believed that the big name American fighters were avoiding him. Benn was to be the sacrifice that would establish McClellan in the Super Middleweight and set up mega-fights with the top American names but Benn would not be stopped that night and took everything McClellan had to offer while dishing out his own punishment in return and stopping McClellan late. The fight, obviously, had the spectre of the destruction of McClellan's health hanging over it, and Benn's win is somewhat tarnished due to the idea that emerged in hindsight that McClellan was already damaged heading into the fight. Nevertheless it ranks highly as a comeback, underdog victory. Calzaghe/Kessler is, arguably, the most important fight in the divisions history. Unification between the WBO and the Ring Champion in Calzaghe and the WBC and WBA Champion in Kessler, both undefeated, Kessler in over 30 fights and Calzaghe in over 40, and it was the first time in the division's history that the two undisputed best fighters in the Super Middleweights would meet to determine who the best was. The fight was close fought until the later rounds when Calzaghe started to run away with it, and winning the fight meant that Calzaghe achieved a few milestone - the 21st defense of his WBO title, becoming the first and to date only man to have held every significant title in the division and full recognition as the division's undisputed best fighter. The only other man to have similar recognition as the undisputed best in the division is Ward. Collins/Eubank was a significant fight in so much as it broke the dominance of Benn and Eubank in the British market and it was Eubank's first defeat, but its not that well remembered and its not a massively important fight in the division's history, its more important than Ried, Malinga and Woodhall trading titles because Eubank's 5 or so year dominance in the WBO as opposed to the relatively short reigns of the Ried/Malinga/Woodhall in the WBC meant it was a more significant title change but beyond that I dont see that its all that special. So, ranking them as Number 1 being the most important and number 5 being the least important: 1 - Calzaghe/Kessler 2 - Eubank/Benn 3 - Jones/Toney 4 - Benn/McClellan 5 - Collins/Eubank
Eubank didnt beat Benn at SMW I guess knowing how accomplished and good Eubank was and his long reign as champ, Collins win over Eubank although debateable has a very high standing as Eubank is arguably the 2nd most accomplished SMW ever with an outstanding resume and was undefeated and in double figure number of defences. Calzaghes over Kessler is up there for its prestige in that an ageing end of career champ, puts it on the line against a young undefeated, prime unified champ wanting to take on the top dog. I think either could be argued but Eubank is a one of the SMW greats and that holds the win over undefeated Eubank in very high esteem
Jones - Toney -- Solid victory for RJJ to stack upon his great legacy. 7/10 Eubank- Benn -- Eubank proved himself in an all-out war with domestic rival Nigel Benn. All out battle. This fight was for Benn's Middleweight strap (not SMW). 7.5/10 Benn- McClellan -- McClellan was on a spree. Benn came back from a hard knockdown in round one to end the career of McClellan in the most unfortunate way possible. 9.25/10 Calzaghe-Kessler -- Calzaghe pulled a Lennox Lewis in defeating the next generation just as he trailed out of his sport. It was a good win and great fight. 8.5/10 Collins - Eubank -- Tough loss for English boxing to Irish. It was a show and nothing to be too ashamed of. 8/10
I think it should be looked at what the losing fighters did at SMW, when we judge how good the wins were. Eubank - an undefeated world champ and one of the best SMWs ever with one of the best SMW resumes ever Kessler - an undefeated unified world champ who had beaten several top SMWs Toney - an undefeated world champ, but who hadnt beaten any top SMWs McClellan - First fight at SMW with no pedigree at the weight, but was a noted massive MW puncher and a big MW
4 fights that are in my top 20 of all time. out of all the fights cal v kessler the only fight i was actually there for and the only fight that i didnt know the result before i watched the fight so for me that fight had the most thrill for me and also being welsh helped
Looking at only what the losing fighters did at 168 It would go something like Collins- Eubank Calzaghe- Kessler Jones- Toney Benn- McClellan But I think Toney and McClellan's MW pedigree has to be taken into account, because that is where they made their names, and they were great fighters because of what they did there. Eubank has a good MW resume as well, with a win over Benn.