Probably one of the most exciting eras in boxing but at the same time one of the most dangerous. Lots of lessons were learnt from that period in the sport. Watching the anguish and pain that Benn went through as explained it in the interview and seeing him when he first saw McClellan 12 years after the fight was quite emotional. And lest not forget the life changing injuries that McClellan and his family have to endure.
The first thing that i thought about was why was McClellan so angry, he went out with no intention other than to destroy and harm Benn,
Then you see the clown in his corner, Then you realise he sack Manny Stewart, Then the beig hair bafoon is involved,
Money Money Money, is what it came down too with him,
The mistakes made by the corner and the Dr's at Ringside are in excusable and although i can see reason in what his Trainer/Coach said about him never being knocked down or really seeming hurt by a punch, The guy was injured, on the other thread to do with this it was mentioned that his Gum sheld was constantly nearly out of his head,
The Blinking was picked up by the commentators who were saying i havent seen him do that in any other fight,
His corner didnt say a word,
15 years on to say Benn is a drug cheat on steriods is wrong based solely on some blood on a boot,
But Nigel at the end of the fight you are helped off by 1 of the essex boys (who everyone knows was wrapped up with a roid rage fanatic and was not impatial to a bit him self)
The programme whilst extreemly well put together and thought out, left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth,
i know dont feel 100% sure that Nige didnt cheat, i feel that Boxing let down McClellan, I feel he let himself down,
I love my boxing but it does make you realise that you want 2 men to beat each other half to death in the name of Sport, i wanted that fight to be brutal, i was caught up in the frenzy the night it happened, willing Benn to knock 10 bells of shite out of this gobby, Pit bull walking, yank
i got it , but at what cost
not only to McClellan but to Nigel Benn as well ( a true English boxing great)
strange one for me, you hate to see the effect boxing had on his life, but he wasn't a nice person at all. Taping a labrador's mouth up then letting a pit bull rip it to shreds is fecking disgusting.
yh the dog fighting made him an immediately unlikeable character for me.....but the way the programme kept cutting from how is was then, a powerful athlete.....to how he is now, you wouldnt wish that on anybody.
a brilliant programme though, highlighting the greed and lack of loyalty in boxing. don king is nothing more than a criminal.
a bit of a choker as well when benn met the mcclellan family for the charity event and you heard mcclellan say 'this man nearly took my life, does he look sad?'. powerful stuff.
Near perfect post NLA, I couldn't sum it up any better - though the clown of a ref deserves a mention. Nobody came out of it well.
I remember watching it in a pub and enjoying it, but feeling a bit uneasy. Argued with a bloke behind me shouting "get up you coward" when GMc went down on one knee. Terrible.
It was around this time period that alot of Football herberts got into the "security game" first via boxing "ring security"and "doing the doors" and then the rave scene. Nigel B said himself he did a bit of E not surprising re that and the security thing that one of the Essex Boys was about.
If you watch the whole of the first round again (via you tube), how the fight went beyond Round 1 was a joke. The documentary last night really didnt highlight the fact that when Benn got up out of the ropes, he had almost 90 seconds to survive and the referee kept coming between them to break the fighting up when McClellan should have been given a chance to finish Benn off. The ref broke them up at least half a dozen times. Desperately sad chain of events afterwards. Good doc though. I cant even begin to imagine how Benn feels now.
I found it rather uncomfortable to watch to be honest. Thought I'd be drawn to one of them positively in the end but just ended up being angry with the sport and all of the individuals connected with the two fighters.
Eubank understood boxing as a sport unlike Benn and the others at the time so i always preferred him. Boxing all went far too gangster again around this time for me.
Let's be honest, McClellan was a nasty human being who would probably have felt absolutely no remorse if the boot was on the other foot. That fight was his judgement day in more ways than one.
Comments
My 2 boys box. Would never want em
to go near the pro game in a million years.
The first thing that i thought about was why was McClellan so angry, he went out with no intention other than to destroy and harm Benn,
Then you see the clown in his corner, Then you realise he sack Manny Stewart, Then the beig hair bafoon is involved,
Money Money Money, is what it came down too with him,
The mistakes made by the corner and the Dr's at Ringside are in excusable and although i can see reason in what his Trainer/Coach said about him never being knocked down or really seeming hurt by a punch, The guy was injured, on the other thread to do with this it was mentioned that his Gum sheld was constantly nearly out of his head,
The Blinking was picked up by the commentators who were saying i havent seen him do that in any other fight,
His corner didnt say a word,
15 years on to say Benn is a drug cheat on steriods is wrong based solely on some blood on a boot,
But Nigel at the end of the fight you are helped off by 1 of the essex boys (who everyone knows was wrapped up with a roid rage fanatic and was not impatial to a bit him self)
The programme whilst extreemly well put together and thought out, left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth,
i know dont feel 100% sure that Nige didnt cheat, i feel that Boxing let down McClellan, I feel he let himself down,
I love my boxing but it does make you realise that you want 2 men to beat each other half to death in the name of Sport, i wanted that fight to be brutal, i was caught up in the frenzy the night it happened, willing Benn to knock 10 bells of shite out of this gobby, Pit bull walking, yank
i got it , but at what cost
not only to McClellan but to Nigel Benn as well ( a true English boxing great)
yh the dog fighting made him an immediately unlikeable character for me.....but the way the programme kept cutting from how is was then, a powerful athlete.....to how he is now, you wouldnt wish that on anybody.
a brilliant programme though, highlighting the greed and lack of loyalty in boxing. don king is nothing more than a criminal.
a bit of a choker as well when benn met the mcclellan family for the charity event and you heard mcclellan say 'this man nearly took my life, does he look sad?'. powerful stuff.
Near perfect post NLA, I couldn't sum it up any better - though the clown of a ref deserves a mention. Nobody came out of it well.
I remember watching it in a pub and enjoying it, but feeling a bit uneasy. Argued with a bloke behind me shouting "get up you coward" when GMc went down on one knee. Terrible.
That look on Benn's face as he was walking to the ring, intense. If I saw someone with that stare I would run a mile!
Dark certainly. Sport not. IMHO.
As for Benn being on steroids: I don't think he even remembers. His behaviour when confronted is far from convincing.
Great documentary though.
I personally don't think Benn was on steroids but then again you wouldn't put anything past a fighter who was mixed up with that vile pig Don King.
Not Simon Jordan ?
Just caught up with it on ITV player. Benn, Eubank, Watson, McClellan, warriors. Never liked Eubank and his strutting and posturing though.
http://www.itv.com/sport/