A Boxing Memory: Nigel Benn

A Boxing Memory: Nigel Benn

Nigel Benn was 55 when he tried to launch a boxing comeback against the former world champion Sakio Bika in 2019. It was designed for internal peace after his heyday was marred by battling his demons as much as his contemporaries. Benn was ignoring advice and common sense in trying to find what was long since gone. Thankfully, Benn soon abandoned his ill-advised short-lived return. We didn’t need to see a Benn closing in on sixty. And Benn certainly didn’t need to feel it.

Benn had retired several times towards the end of his first run in the sport. Thoughts of the ‘Dark Destroyer’ were replaced by a far lesser fighter than we had witnessed in his pomp. Despite certain limitations, Benn was perhaps the most ferocious fighter of his day. And one of the best.

A comment Benn said to Doug DeWitt prior to their WBO middleweight title fight in 1990 perhaps epitomises the British fighter best:

“Doug DeWitt walked over to me in the ring and said, ‘You’re going down.’ I replied, ‘I might be going down, but you’re STAYING down!”

Benn rampaged through much of his early career. He went twenty-two fights undefeated after he turned professional in 1987 with a 2nd round stoppage of one Graeme Ahmed. One by one, his opponents of mainly the usual suspects fell. Those twenty-two fights all ended inside the distance. Nineteen of those victims were disposed of inside two rounds. Benn was pure box office.

But there was a little sign of things to come against Anthony Logan in 1988 in a defence of his Commonwealth middleweight title. In a wildly exciting fight at the Royal Albert Hall, Benn was down in the opening round, badly hurt again in the 2nd and he looked out on his feet and on the brink of a sensational upset loss, until he found a left hook from another world to clinch victory when he was seemingly on the verge of defeat. A hard-earned victory that added to the Nigel Benn myth.

Benn survived that early scare, but after three more wins, the story looked over the following year. Domestic rival Michael Watson soaked up the early pressure from Benn before stopping him in the 5th round, handing the former soldier his first professional setback.

But Benn went to America and honed his craft with three wins. Two of those wins were on points, Sanderline Williams took him to a split decision, but those wins earned the British fighter a crack at the WBO middleweight bauble in 1990 against DeWitt. Benn ended it in the 8th, and while the WBO was still struggling for acceptance, it was an important victory for Benn.

Later that year, Benn saw off the tough American Iran Barkley. It only lasted a round, but it was a fight that had enough excitement and drama to satisfy. Benn bludgeoned a past his best Barkley to defeat in a sensational slugfest. It was a reminder of his fight with Logan two years earlier. Benn yet again survived a real scare. But a challenge from an eccentric British rival was looming.

A contract signing in an ITV studio nearly started the hostilities early. The challenger posed and strutted to the disdain of many. But make no mistake, he could fight. Chris Eubank was the ultimate Marmite character. Benn hated him. Their feelings towards each other served up a classic. One of the most savage fights ever seen in a British ring.

On a Sunday evening in Birmingham, Benn and Eubank traded blows as if their life depended on it. Both had their moments. Eubank had the most important one. With just a few seconds left in the 9th round, Eubank found the punches he needed.

The referee Richard Steele said of the fight: “This was the most dramatic fight I’ve ever refereed.” He had a point. Eubank said Benn made it too personal and that animosity cost him. The Brighton fighter had proved his point. Benn had to do it again.

Six more wins got Benn back in the mix. A trip to Italy earned Benn the WBC super-middleweight world title. Mauro Galvano lost his title after 4 rounds. Another stage of his career had begun. Three defences of his WBC title, including a repeat win over Galvano in Scotland and a stoppage victory over Nicky Piper earned Benn a rematch with Eubank in 1993 with the WBC and WBO titles on the line. Birmingham was replaced by Manchester. It was a much-anticipated rematch that was deemed worthy of being staged outdoors at Old Trafford. This time it was merely a good fight and not a great fight. It lacked plenty of the fire of their first meeting. But it was an absorbing contest, that ended with honours shared. Low blows cost Benn a point and revenge.

After two more wins, including a good win over domestic rival Henry Wharton, Benn was the perceived lamb to the slaughter against the murderous punching American Gerald McClellan at the London Arena in 1995. It was beyond brutal, and it cost both fighters plenty. McClellan much more. McClellan was supposed to win. Thirty-one wins, all but two of them inside the distance. Twenty of them had ended in the opening three minutes. But Benn survived everything that was thrown at him. After ten rounds it ended in favour of Benn. Sadly, we know how it ended for his opponent.

We know what the fight did to the American, and Benn was never ever the same again. In different ways, it had taken too much out of him. After defending his WBC super-middleweight title two more times, Benn lost his last three fights. The slippery ‘Sugar Boy’ Malinga beat him on points in Newcastle in 1996, and two defeats to Steve Collins ended his career. These final fights were sad in many ways. But at least in 2019, Benn was spared an even sadder farewell. There’s an old line I always use, remember the prime, not the decline. Maybe that applies to Nigel Benn more than most.