Random fight thoughts: Looking back at Gerald Mclellan/Nigel Benn

[elgigante]

It was frightening watching that fight again this evening. Even though i have watched quite a few times i just got this eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach after watching Gerald going to the corner and just collapsing. All the blinking he was doing should have been a sign to the ref earlier than round 10. Barry Mcguigan thought it was heatstroke but sadly he was very wrong. benn in all reality should not have gotten out of the first round but his heart and the benefit of a long count helped the "Dark Destroyer" right the ship and march on to his tragic victory. Another thing about that bout, anyone notice that a very young Naseem Hamed was part of benn's entourage after the bout?

[adamn]

Shit, I missed that. Sounds intense.

[elgigante]

Shit, I missed that. Sounds intense.

oddly enough it didnt seem that intense to me at first. Maybe it was the Sky commentating team, maybe it was the camera work, i dont know but The shots outside of Benn getting knocked out of the ring just didnt see that savage for the most part. Benn tagged him clean quite a bit but didnt really seem to stun him hard until round 9

[CROKICK]

oddly enough it didnt seem that intense to me at first. Maybe it was the Sky commentating team, maybe it was the camera work, i dont know but The shots outside of Benn getting knocked out of the ring just didnt see that savage for the most part. Benn tagged him clean quite a bit but didnt really seem to stun him hard until round 9
Gerald had a very good chin IMO and Benn wouldnt have stopped him had Gerald not had the brain problem. Benn used alot of shitty tactics in this fight. Hitting in the back of the head etc. If it wasnt bad enough that Gerald had him down and counted out in the first but the ref started the count late and counted slow as hell and then kept Gerald off for another ten seconds after Benn got up. That fight was a real shame although Benn did show heart.

[Tauvington]

It was a dirty fight all around. The ref just did a shitty job in general. Benn got away with a ton of fucking fouls. The official gave him way too slow of a count, and kept getting in-between them for no reason in the 1st round when the G-man had Nigel in horrible trouble. But Gerald also did some illegal stuff--Like continuing to pound on Benn after Nigel had slumped down on the bottom rope (and was technically down). The ref totally blew the call on that headbutt. The fight should have either gone to the scorecards, or McClellan should have been given 5 minutes to recover.

Gerald's incredibly unhealthy weight-cutting almost certainly contributed to the damage done to his brain by the blood clot. You're much more likely to suffer brain damage if you're dehydrated, than if you're not. McClellan would cut ridiculous amounts of weight for the scales, then put on 20+ pounds in one day. It takes longer than just one day to fully rehydrate yourself when you go that far with it, no matter how much water you drink.

[Necron Eloheim]

I was young when this fight happened and I haven't seen it since. As for Nas, this was before he was a complete tit although he was prolly well on his way.

[elgigante]

steez,

i put the fight up in multimedia if ya wanna get it

[natecrime]

I too remeber this incident being all over the news round about the time that it had happened but never saw the fight, did Gerald die in the end?

[elgigante]

no he didnt die but he ended up severly brain damaged and totally unable to take care of himself. I later thought of this as karma coming back to bite him in the ass because it turned out he was a pretty cruel human being who had a tendency to be very cruel to animals, especially dogs. Alf i think could elaborate a bit more on that

[CROKICK]

Yeah he trained pit bulls and there is a story where he had his prize dog fight another dog and when his dog started losing he jumped in and demanded the other dog be pulled off. After bringing his dog safely away he shot it in the head in disgust because in his eyes it was no good if it couldnt win. He was a crul man but even still I enjoyed watching his ring work. He was the most intimidating and probably hardest hitting MW Ive ever seen.

[Tauvington]

Trent, wasn't there also another story about Gerald buying a small dog (a lab, I think) at a pet store, taking it home, duct-taping it's mouth shut, putting a nylon stocking over his own head, and video-taping himself watching his pit bull eat the dog alive? He would put the tape in the VCR before his fights to get himself psyched up, if I remember correctly.

[Alf]

yeah I also noticed Frank Bruno yelling at benn in the corner while he was being battered by gerald, he was yelling something loud and I guess motivational. damn if Nigel would have just layed down as scripted he could have saved a young man's career/life, but karma is indeed a bitch and I guess that happens when you don't value the gift of life.

btw here is that notorious article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,583541,00.html

[CROKICK]

Trent, wasn't there also another story about Gerald buying a small dog (a lab, I think) at a pet store, taking it home, duct-taping it's mouth shut, putting a nylon stocking over his own head, and video-taping himself watching his pit bull eat the dog alive? He would put the tape in the VCR before his fights to get himself psyched up, if I remember correctly.
Yeah you are correct Nick, I forgot about that story. I knew he had to do some psycho shit before his matches because they were over fast and brutally.

[natecrime]

yeah I also noticed Frank Bruno yelling at benn in the corner while he was being battered by gerald, he was yelling something loud and I guess motivational. damn if Nigel would have just layed down as scripted he could have saved a young man's career/life, but karma is indeed a bitch and I guess that happens when you don't value the gift of life. btw here is that notorious article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,583541,00.html

That article is pretty fucked up, worth a read.

[Necron Eloheim]

steez,

i put the fight up in multimedia if ya wanna get it I'ma check that shit.

[DrOctagon]

Benn v Mclellan was one of the greatest fight I have ever witnessed. Seems like Gerald was a piece of shit outside of the ring but I will never forget the numb feeling of guilt I had for being so elated when Benn stopped him in the 10th, and later hearing that he had a blood clot. I have the fight on DVD and have yet to watch it again.

[Tauvington]

Benn v Mclellan was one of the greatest fight I have ever witnessed. Seems like Gerald was a piece of shit outside of the ring but I will never forget the numb feeling of guilt I had for being so elated when Benn stopped him in the 10th, and later hearing that he had a blood clot. I have the fight on DVD and have yet to watch it again.

I remember Benn saying later on that he felt guilty for his behavior after the fight was stopped (running around like a maniac celebrating, getting on the mic and saying that "they just brought him over here to bust me up," while Gerald was lying there brain-busted). Both guys were admitted to the hospital after the fight. When Nigel left, he said that he prayed for Gerald at McClellan's bed-side.

[DAZEDJELLYLEGS]

That was a terribly marketted fight. It should have been a huge event and I didnt even hear about it till about 3 weeks prior. There were loads of unsold seats for it too as a friend of mine went. Carl king ( I think ) moved all the cheap seats forward for the sake of the TV footage and my friend was almost ringside. How can a perfect evening end so terribly......

That was a tragic fight. I was a massive Mclellan fan at the time and gave Benn little chance. I thought the Head butt in the 8th factored as Mclellan didnt seem the same after that. He should have been pulled from the fight with that blinking and obvious change in ring persona. I was watching on TV and to me it seemed very worrying that a fighter was blinking and seemed to be not quite there. Add to that the fact that Benn was arguably beaten in the first round and the whole fight stinks. It was a low point for UK boxing in so many ways.

Mclellan was a great fighter and could have gone so far with his terrifying punching power.

[natecrime]

Just for anyone in UK who gives a shit the Benn - Eubank fight is on after the UFC on Bravo tonight.