The ESB British Forum Encyclopedia

Nah, it's on me laptop mate

I clicked it all back together and it works again, albeit makes a horrific crunching noise. Uploaded a Benton fight to the tube today, so with a little more work it'll be done :good

 

Cheers, I look forward to Tyson part 2. :good

Thanks, any idea who you might do next? I really enjoyed your last post on here.

 

its a much better effort than what i was putting together! thanks mate appreciate it! umm not sure, am i being blind or does sweet pea not have one? but i was thinking maybe a kid gavilan or chocolate one if i get the chance, been working every hour god sends but hopefully will start one in the next couple of weeks on one of the above, what about yourself?

 

Sweet Pea is a good shout, one of my favourites. I dont know very much about kid chocolate so I'm sure that would be interesting too :good

I think Flea might have a gavilan one in the pipeline.

I'm planning a dwight mohammed qawi one next.

 

sounds like a good start to the year for the esb encyclopaedia! have all the articles been "glossarised"?

 

LP, update if you ain't already please :thumbsup

As for the Benton piece, I'ma upload the whole Carter fight. Only a few rounds on youtube. Will feature footage of his some of his key opponents as well, to make it all come together. Now I;ve nearly done it, I realised I should've done a 30 part piece on 20 years of Middleweights ;-) :yep

 

Name: George Benton
Height: 5’9

Boxing Record
Total Fights 76
Wins 62 (37)
Losses 13 (2)
Drawn 1

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Part I


The mean streets of Philadelphia were kinder to George Benton than the shadowy alleyways of the boxing business. He never received a shot at the World Middleweight Championship in 21 years as a pro’. He was avoided, suffered setbacks that forced him into a brief retirement, and rarely given a shot at the top men in the division due to his penchant for springing upsets and his immeasurable class and ability in the ring.

Benton could hit, but was known for his incredible defensive boxing. Known for his ability to adapt and time his opponents offence, he was a brilliant combination puncher with a damaging left hook and a sharp right hand, who could break his man down or dominate with his jab and counter punching. He learned on the job, and by sparring in the renowned Philadelphia gyms that could break a man in half upon entering the door of any one of a dozen sweaty holes that housed ace warriors of all shapes and sizes. It moulded him into a man who could make or break anothers career, a ‘Policeman’ whose biggest opportunities came when facing other black fighters who showed promise. Benton received little in the way of opportunity when he beat them. He was so good that only two white contenders faced him in his ring life.

His active career, between 1949-1970, also spanned some of the deepest and most competitive Middleweight era’s in history. Some of the greatest 160lb fighters held the undisputed title during Benton’s best fighting years: ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson, Dick Tiger, Nino Benvenuti, Joey Giardello and Emile Griffith . Despite beating many fighters in The Ring’s top ten rankings, Benton was not regularly in the top ten himself, bar their end of year rankings for 1962. Great Welterweights such as Carmen Basilio, Kid Gavilan, Emile Griffith and Luis Manuel Rodriguez also infiltrated the top end of the division, lessening Benton’s chances at the top even further. With no junior or super middleweight classes throughout most of this time (154lbs was inducted into the title canon in ’62) this followed the trend of fighters who didn’t mind spotting their opponents some weight either north or south of the divisional border. The title was never fractured during Benton’s window of opportunity, and despite this, the division was so competitive it changed hands no less than 19 times, bookended by Champions of the highest calibre; Ray Robinson and Carlos Monzon. The contenders that staked their claim for supremacy read like a who’s who of brilliant middleweights, and some got their hands on the belt, and some got a shot. Many languished in the ‘who needs ‘em’ club and fought each other. George Benton was rarely even in this club.

Whilst the likes of Charley Burley, Cocoa Kid, Holman Williams, Lloyd Marshall, Ezzard Charles & Archie Moore were no longer terrorising fighters around this weight, there was still a legitimate 'Murderers Row' of talent operating during different stages of Benton's middleweight pursuit. There were boxers, devastating punchers, sluggers, swarmers, wiley veterans, spoilers, astute counter punchers and defensive specialists during Benton’s time. Some, like Benton, were great at one or more things. Most were good at everything. The likes of Holly Mims, Charley Josephs, Carl ‘Bobo’ Olsen, Ralph ‘Tiger’ Jones, Randy Turpin, Gil Turner, Gene and Don Fullmer, Eduardo Lausse, Del Flanegan, Freddie Little, Joey Giambra, Florentino Fernandez, Laurent Dauthuille Henry Hank, ‘Spider’ Webb, Rory Calhoun, Paul Pender, Terry Downes, Yama Bahama, Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, Denny Moyer, Neal Rivers, Joey Archer, Dave Sands, Bennie Briscoe, Laszlo Papp, Gomeo Brennan, Rocky Castellani, Milo Savage, and many more battled it out to try and get in a position to make money and earn acclaim. More often than not, Georgie Benton was struggling to gain employment, let alone break through ranks as dense as these.

Seeking a way to transfer his hoodlum energy into a positive means of making money, Benton took up boxing at 13 and by 16 was a pro’, lying about his age. He defeated Holly Mims, Lester Felton, Bobby Lee and Charley Josephs in his first few years in the paid ranks, impressive wins over men that would be seen amongst the cream of the crop in the coming years. Josephs, who would go on to feature in The Ring’s ratings for two years, was beaten well in his first two meetings with Benton. The Ring magazine of March 1953 said Benton "the decision rather easily and (scored) two knockdowns in the process." In their second meeting in 1958, Benton landed the cleaner punches and won a unaminous decision, although Joseph turned the trick in their third meeting a few months later.

In ’59, Benton took on Bobby Boyd, who just a few months earlier was ranked no.7 in the World. In a risky fight, Boyd had faced no.3 ranked Ellsworth ‘Spider’ Webb, a mainstay of the upper echelon and a tough, hard punching contender. In an incredible shootout lasting less than a round, Boyd staggered Webb, only to be brutally stopped himself.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcsM1puxCL4[/ame]

Benton was unranked going into his fight with Boyd, but showed his quality against a top contender who was looking to bounce back and further his claim for a high ranking. Whilst only a few rounds of footage from the fight are available, reports from the time indicate Benton won well in an upset. He was ‘convincing in shellacking the 10th-ranked middleweight from Chicago with a headhunting attack’ and that is amply demonstrated in the 10th round, where Benton hurts his man.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_jaZdo9Y2c[/ame]

Benton shows his ability to slip and counter from close range here, often continuing his assault as the quality Boyd tries to fight back. Benton has his man hurt a few times, and looks a competitor of the highest calibre; a slick counter puncher in the mould of ‘Sweet Pea’ Whittaker and even showing flashes of what makes Floyd Mayweather such a lauded competitor. Catching, parrying, and deflecting shots with his gloves and shoulders, and landing accurate sharp counters. His head and upper body movement is a sight to behold. Benton was also very strong and an adept inside fighter. His next bout would see this aspect of his game given a strong workout. He was about to take on a man he had beaten before, the brilliant Holly Mims.

Mims could box, he could hit, and he was a crafty and experienced fighter who had given Ray Robinson hassle who could be relied to trade upon his rock hard chin in his opponents back yard. Benton had beaten Mims via 8 round decision 7 years earlier, when Benton was far less experienced. In the years that had followed, Mims had gained more experience than Benton, because he had less trouble getting fights. Being connected, Mims had plenty of opportunities to wear the handcuffs which explains his low K.O%; he was not supposed to knock out white guys, and was regularly unchained to do his worst against the black contenders of the day to stop them progressing, and would continue to be used as such for many years. It speaks volumes that a fighter as talented as Mims was not deemed as much a risk to book as Benton. It was fine for these talented fighters to be near the top, but never at the top.

A UPI article leading into the fight describes Benton as ‘about as popular as the tax collector’ and that Benton may have already been a pro’ for a decade but ‘he has trouble finding men willing to enter the ring with him.’ His number of fights was lambasted as well: ‘He has fought only 41 times during the decade’, and whilst Mims had 57 fights in the same time span and was ranked 7th by The Ring, Benton wasn’t ranked because he ‘wasn’t fighting regularly’. However, that was one year that it wasn’t a fair criticism: Benton had fought 5 times in the 12 months leading into this fight, and had gone 3-2. Mims had only fought twice, and had lost a decision to Bobby Boyd, the man Benton had beaten easily just a few months before! Mims was a slight favourite due to Benton’s ‘reputation being higher than his ranking’, and it was thought the winner might have an outside chance at getting a shot at the World title, and Benton’s manager Herman Diamond hoped a decisive win for Benton might give him a higher ranking and get him more fights. It wasn’t to be.

A competitive bout, with Mims a clear winner, one headline reading ‘Mims bottles up Benton’s attack, wins with ease’. He used short right uppercuts to help take a unaminous decision, and was said to have smothered Benton in a hard bout, not giving Benton much room to punch. Mims was a wiley and diversely skilled fighter and Benton found it hard to figure him out for most of the bout.

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But the AP release said that whilst ‘Mims Clobbers George Benton’ he also ‘Still Fears ‘im’ with his manager Nick Trotta feeling this performance would be detrimental to Mims’ standing, and quipped cynically:

 

Part II

Benton and Mims would then both take on 5th ranked Henry Hank, another stupendously tough competitor, who fought the cream of the crop at both Middle and Light Heavyweight, and was only stopped once by the great puncher Bob Foster. A class counter puncher both inside and out who blended offence and defence seamlessly and could scrap it out as well, he had some degree of inconsistency but mixed at the very highest level for years. Hank beat Mims by 12 round decision, and then beat Benton via ten round decision, doing good work in the 4th and 7th rounds, and maintaining his attack into the 10th where he had defensive specialist Benton holding onto the ropes!

Benton bounced back with a close decision win over future junior middleweight champion, the thunderous punching Freddie Little. The devastating 2nd round K.O below shows Little defending his unified 154lb championship in ’69, and gives an indication of what Benton would’ve been up against.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h2J8FywlSU[/ame]

He was not yet at his peak, but was still a dangerous fighter, and was being brought up like a prospect, and had beaten trial horse Charley Cotton and knocked out Australian middleweight champion Clive Stewart, and would bounce back after his loss to Benton with a win over Charley Josephs. Benton, a 2-1 underdog, won a tight one with cards of 5-5, 5-3-2 and 5-4-1, coming on strong late with combinations, bloodying Little’s nose. To Little’s credit, he had Benton cut badly over the eye in the 10th and final round (UPI)

Benton then travelled to Scotland, losing a decision to the toughly matched hometown fighter John McCormack. Benton would retire after this bout and work in a factory, not seeing action for another year.

But times were tough, and Benton could get more money boxing as well as working his day job. He came back, and came back with a vengeance. He would go 9-0(7) over 3 years, including a brilliant win over future champion Joey Giardello. Giardello, a fellow Phili’ fighter, also came up the hard way and was known for his gameness, but being white and fan friendly, had a lot of opportunities to overcome his inconsistency before finally reaching the pinnacle of his division. Here are highlights of a hard-fought victory over top contender Rory Calhoun.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB-FChqSRsQ&feature=related[/ame]

Benton’s run had seen him rank 10th, whilst Giardello was ranked 4th (and was actually promoted to no.2 by the NBA a few hours before the bout) . This did little to dissuade Benton, who promised a K.O going into the fight. ‘He won’t be able to avoid my hooks, jabs jars and jolts’ said Benton before the contest.

Omnipresent and influential trainer, manager and promoter Lou Duva was on hand to make sure it was Giardello, and not Benton who got a shot at middleweight champion Dick Tiger (which he won) and to ensure Benton never got a crack at the title, against a man he had already ‘whipped’ and had no intention of facing him again.

An article in The L.A Times painted Benton (now ranked 3rd by The Ring) as a brilliant operator and criticised Giardello’s want to stay away from Benton after their first encounter.

Benton faced off with the infamous puncher Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter in ’63. Carter was coming off a cut stoppage loss, but had beaten Holly Mims, Gomeo Brennan and devastated fellow massive puncher Florentino Fernandez in the 1st round. Carter often gets underrated nowadays due to him being grossly misrepresented in the media (in depictions in both song, Bob Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’, and the motion picture of the same name) but he was a rugged, strong puncher who was not entirely unskilled. After his win over Benton he would go on to starch ATG P4Per Emile Griffith inside a round. These displays of brutality were of the highest order, but would not happen to Georgie Benton.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0LQ5EXSNXI[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgDxA78CJho[/ame]

Benton lost a split decision in what at the time was a big upset. It was a bout that could’ve gone either way, with brilliant work done by both on the inside and both gaining the others respects with their punches. Benton shows his dynamic footwork and positioning early on in the bout, and fires off fluent combinations. Dick Tiger, then Middleweight champion, was on hand to watch the contest.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5Fz462y_ug[/ame]

With the loss, Carter was in and Benton was out, and it would be ‘Hurricane’ who got the shot at new champ’ Giardello (he lost) and Benton again who was easily dismissed as a threat to the top guys who wanted nothing to do with him. His time at the top had never begun, but his time chasing the pot at the end of the rainbow was over.

 

Part III

Benton’s next two fights were wins, PTS 10 Allen Thomas, where Benton had his man figured out after two rounds and went on to boss the fight, hurting Thomas whenever he cared to, and hard-punching John Henry Smith, where he scored a 2nd round K.O. Both fights were filmed and survived ‘til today.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMu1CMoIGuw[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCO86_Z5p9o[/ame]

He would then split two fights with Johnny Morris for the Pennsylvania State title. Morris was a ‘stylish’ boxer who overcame the favourite by utilising a ‘stiff jab and a set of limber legs’. In their return, Benton overcame his younger foe and some miscalculated scorecards to take the decision, hurting Morris in numerous rounds to take the 12 round decision and the State championship.

Benton then picked up with, in hindsight, a very impressive 10 round decision win over Jimmy Ellis. He ‘landed the only heavy punches of the slow-moving fight in the ninth round, when he stunned Ellis with 3 lefts to the head’. Whilst Ellis was finding his feet as a middleweight contender, he wouldn’t lose for 12 bouts, five years and one Joe Frazier after this, finding victories over Floyd Patterson (Floyd was robbed), Jerry Quarry, Leotis Martin and Oscar Bonavena (dropping the iron-chinned Bonavena, a feat Joe Frazier couldn’t pull off) to take half of the Heavyweight crown in Muhammad Ali’s absence.

But Benton was nearing the end of the his 21 year career. Still never dropped, he suffered the first TKO loss of his career, against one of the greatest fighters of all time, the Cuban P4Per Luis Manuel Rodriguez.

He suffered another TKO loss, to ATG middleweight puncher Bennie Briscoe who would be one of the top middleweight contenders of the following era. Briscoe ‘came on strong at the end to wear down his opponent’. On Doctors advice, the bout was stopped before the 10th round could begin, but had still never been off his feet.

Benton then went 8-1 against lesser opposition, but regardless of his chances to turn things round and crack the big time after 21 hard years in a hard business, he was shot in the back by someone who’d been smacked around by Benton’s brother earlier in the day for making advances on their sister. Benton valiantly head butted his attacker until he dropped his weapon and it saved his life, but with a bullet lodged in his spine he couldn’t save his boxing career.

However, his services would come to be in demand in the 70s. Benton trained under Eddie Futch to hone his craft as a teacher. Joe Frazier would visit him and ask him to help develop his right hand. And in a strange twist of fate, Lou Duva, the man who had screwed Benton years before for a shot at the middleweight title, sought him out to train some of his greener fighters in the art of defence.

Benton was revered (and feared) as a fighter in his physical prime, but his mental facets hadn’t degraded despite two decades of tough competition, a testament to his defensive ability. He was about to expose the next generation of fighters to his massive boxing brain.

Early successes included coaching Leon Spinks to his upset victory over Muhammad Ali for the World Heavyweight championship, but with the party life the Olympic and pro’ champ’ Spinks was living he turned up unfocused for the rematch, and Benton, dismayed at his young charge for listening to the hangers on he had accumulated rather than him, walked out mid-fight.

Benton would have his greatest successes as a teacher in the ‘80s, working with 3 brilliant Olympians; Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, and Pernell Whittaker, who seemed the perfect fighter to be moulded by the defensive master Benton.

He got Holyfield, who had hit a brick wall in his fight with the veteran great Larry Holmes to make an adjustment that saw him ease off the pedal, and gave one of his greatest soundbites when asked why Holyfield stopped going all-out on the offensive in that fight:

Features highlights of previously included fights as well as some of Benton’s brilliant corner work
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwYnF8SWNjs[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3hkMJPBuwc&feature=related[/ame]


In 1989 and 1990, Benton was named "Trainer of the Year" by the Boxing Writers Association of America and in 2001 he was inducted into the IBHOF. He died of pneumonia in 2011.

 

Excellant Flea, I forgot 'Cowboy' McCormack beat Benton, McCormack had some amazing wins, really underrated (or forgotten) Scottish fighter.

 

Aye, he beat your man Chic Calderwood as well.

Boxrec has it as McCormack winning easily, no source noted. A later Yank newspaper article I read on Benton says he retired because it was a controversial loss. Without having anything concrete I didn't post all that much on it in the Encyclopedia entry.

 

Great stuff Flea, really enjoyed that.

Might just be my computer but I cant watch any of the footage, it just shows a white square with an exclamation mark

Edit: restarted the pc & now it works :happy

 

Enjoy :good

 

Anyone got any views on this fantastic middleweight contender?

 

I very much look forward to reading this Benton piece.