Just how good was Gerald McClellan?

[gauze]

i would consider g-man prime in the benn fight. but who really knows for sure, he possibly may have never reached his peak

[Joe2608]

I think you have to call him prime for the Benn fight, he was a seriously heavy hitter. He wasn't an amazing technical boxer but 1 punch could change things. He was definitley a crowd pleaser!

I don't think he would have gone on to be an ATG but defo HOF worthy.

[New England]

Beatable once you got past the early rounds against him. Unfortunately 99% of boxers did not have the ability to do that. A big-time weight-cutter who hit like a ton of bricks at middleweight, and had good offensive skills instilled to him by Stewart. Lacked in the defensive department and in stamina. Made up for it with a very solid chin, but the lack of defense and his toughness ultimately proved his downfall.

he's probably the hardest hitter ever a MW
its a toss up between he and jackson in my eyes


he had a brutish right hand but he had an arguably better left hook behind it, which was totally unheard of for a guy built like he was
he was a huge body puncher too
according to steward he stopped between ten and 20 men as a professional with the long right hand with the hook behind it to the body


he was one of those "built by committee" types
it looked like somebody drew him up in a lab to be a devastating boxer/puncher

he had a tiny waist and some of the biggest shoulders i've ever seen in proportion to a body. he had power built through his core all the way down his arms
he had big wrists and heavy bones. he was huge huge huge at MW.



if there's a knock on him its that he was all offense, and could get tagged. that happens when you are punching like he does. to generate that much power you have to abandon defense on a level that less powerful men are unwilling to go to.
he leaned forward a bit when he threw his combinations, unlike a lot of manny steward fighters who will try and maintain distance (like dawson, wladimir, lennox, hearns to a lesser degree, etc)
that's because he wanted to throw with both hands, and not just look to set up the right behind the jab


i could talk about the g-man all day.
at his best he's one of the most pleasing fighters on the eyes in terms of style and temperament in my opinion


he had the body type, and the power and chin, to eventually make his way to LHW and perhaps even CW.
but he didn't have the style to fight larger men, and would have had to tweak some things, which i'm convinced he could have
he had a very educated jab that could have won rounds standing alone if he worked a bit on his craft

[Vadrigar.]

he's probably the hardest hitter ever a MW
its a toss up between he and jackson in my eyes

What about Hearns and Robinson?

[junior gong]

i wanna know how he got those two early losses

I read an interview with him some time before the Benn fight(it was either Ring or KO magazine) and he said he just wasnt really taking things too seriously, cutting corners in the gym and partying and said it was a lesson he needed to learn as he was growing up and becoming a man.

To answer the TS question, he was a very good fighter with awsome power but he did have his limitations. He relied on the power a bit too much and this would come at the expense of his defensive abilities, which whilst not world class, were certainly pretty sound. Geralds Problems started after the first Julian Jackson fight, he complained of headaches constantly right up until the fight with Benn.

All in all fighters with his kind of style rarely become elite or ATG fighters, but they leave their mark and are always very fondly remembered because the give boxing fans the things they want to see the most,devastating KO's and great wars, and had it not been curtailed by a tragic injury his career would probably had a similar trajectory as his two most well known adversaries and fellow devastating punchers, Nigel Benn and Julian Jackson.

[RubenSonny]

I've seen the Benn fight once - never again.

[fitefanSHO]

Sadly, the G-Man's full potential was never reached in the ring.

It was stolen by the incompetent Alfredo Asaro, the worst ref I EVER saw.

To the extent that his was job was to protect the fighters, he failed miserably.

[Money Shot]

He wasn't too good to pet dogs allegedly.

[New England]

What about Hearns and Robinson?

lol what about em bro? ^^


they don't hit as hard as the G-man does in my eyes. close, arguably, but not as hard.
they both had more craft, though


hearns could outbox a man outright and make him look silly (ask ray leonard)
and so could robinson

[VERILY]

he's probably the hardest hitter ever a MW
its a toss up between he and jackson in my eyes


he had a brutish right hand but he had an arguably better left hook behind it, which was totally unheard of for a guy built like he was
he was a huge body puncher too
according to steward he stopped between ten and 20 men as a professional with the long right hand with the hook behind it to the body


he was one of those "built by committee" types
it looked like somebody drew him up in a lab to be a devastating boxer/puncher

he had a tiny waist and some of the biggest shoulders i've ever seen in proportion to a body. he had power built through his core all the way down his arms
he had big wrists and heavy bones. he was huge huge huge at MW.



if there's a knock on him its that he was all offense, and could get tagged. that happens when you are punching like he does. to generate that much power you have to abandon defense on a level that less powerful men are unwilling to go to.
he leaned forward a bit when he threw his combinations, unlike a lot of manny steward fighters who will try and maintain distance (like dawson, wladimir, lennox, hearns to a lesser degree, etc)
that's because he wanted to throw with both hands, and not just look to set up the right behind the jab


i could talk about the g-man all day.
at his best he's one of the most pleasing fighters on the eyes in terms of style and temperament in my opinion


he had the body type, and the power and chin, to eventually make his way to LHW and perhaps even CW.
but he didn't have the style to fight larger men, and would have had to tweak some things, which i'm convinced he could have
he had a very educated jab that could have won rounds standing alone if he worked a bit on his craft

Wow, this was a nice surprise.


Absolutely brilliant post. I came in here to talk of my love of Gerald as a fighter, but you've nailed it far better than I ever could.


And, save for one fool trying to derail, we got a clean thread. Sweetness.