By Cliff Rold

The 2008 vote for the International Boxing Hall of Fame is in and the results, as always, provide food for thought.  Easy entrant Lennox Lewis was joined by overdue names “Mysterious” Billy Smith and Brian Mitchell, overlooked talents Billy Soose and Gorilla Jones, and a debatable but ultimately selected Orlando Canizales.  None was unworthy of their selection and left behind a career to be proud of.

It’s never too early to think about next year. 

With three names removed from contention for the Hall of Fame, three slots presumably open up.  With each well past the five year retirement prerequisite needed for eligibility, has it come time to open this democratic process to Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Steve Collins?

Sometimes called the “British Three,” or “British Four” when including the tragically shortened tenure of Michael Watson, the title is a bit of a misnomer.  Collins was an Irishman and Orange/Green rivalry likely precludes his ever wishing to be identified as a Brit.  However, during the 90s, it was a series of fights largely contested in the United Kingdom between these warriors which defined them all.

They were more than just those fights and, even if not all at once, each man is more than qualified to be up for a vote.  Their omission to date is an oversight which bears correcting, especially in light of other names either already selected or awaiting their calls.  

Let’s examine the case for each in this author’s preferred order for their ballot arrival.

Nigel Benn (42-5-1, 35 KO)
Career: 01/28/1987-11/09/1996

Benn won two major titles in his career, a WBO belt at Middleweight and WBC belt at Super Middleweight with one successful defense of the first and nine of the second.  Stats alone are not the real story of what Benn was as a fighter.  He was, like American-based Canadian Arturo Gatti (who won’t need any persuasive columns to get put up for a vote in an inarguably U.S.-centric selection system) one of the most reliable crowd-pleasers of his time, win or lose, and a serious gate attraction.  More than Eubank or Collins, Benn’s star shined across the Atlantic with star making turns on U.S. national television in his first defeat, a sizzler against Michael Watson, and in two 1990 knockout classics against rugged then-WBO titlist Doug DeWitt (off the floor for a TKO in 8 in Ring’s selection for best Middleweight Fight of the Year) and Iran Barkley (a first round stoppage that rates with the best one round fights of all time).

DeWitt and Barkley were followed by his second loss, a knockdown trading ninth-round loss to an undefeated Eubank which may have been better than the DeWitt bout.  A 1993 rematch Super Middleweight unification draw against Eubank (Benn stopped Mauro Galvano for the WBC belt earlier in the year) left many with the impression of Benn as true victor and set the stage two fight later for the bout which defines and haunts his time in the paid ranks.  Coming back from what seemed a bout-ending knockdown in the first round, Benn held off WBC Middleweight titlist Gerald McClellan in 1995 in what Ring Magazine rates the greatest contest in the history of the 168 lb. class.  Were it not for the dark cloud of the finish, it might have beaten out Saman Sorjaturong-Humberto Gonzalez for Ring’s Fight of the Year.  A freakish injury ended the bout in the tenth and McClellan would never fight again but the fight remains a tribute to the courage of both men.  Benn would lose three of the five fights following the savage McClellan war, dropping a decision to already defeated foe Thulani Malinga and falling to a sprained ankle and stool capitulation in a pair of entertaining bouts with Collins.  None are the bouts he is remembered for.  His legacy as a man who gave the fans what they came to see against some of the best of his time was already secured.  

Chris Eubank (42-5-2, 23 KO)
Career: 10/03/1985-07/18/1998

If Benn was the biggest star, Eubank of the three may have been the best champion even with some off performances at times.  He lifted the WBO Middleweight title from Benn and defended it three times, the last of these in a disputed decision over Watson in 1991.  The controversy sparked a rematch later the same year for a vacant WBO belt at 168 lbs. and, like Benn-McClellan years later, tragedy would strike.  After ten savage rounds, a Watson assault sent Eubank to his knees and well behind on the cards in the eleventh.  Needing a miracle, Eubank found one of the greatest right uppercuts ever landed to send Watson down, his head striking against the ring ropes.  After a one-minute rest, Eubank let loose a volley of shots in the opening seconds of the twelfth to force a referee’s stoppage.  Watson would drop into a coma and the fight lost some of what would have, should have, been its stature.  It was in retrospect no less than the second greatest bout ever at Super Middleweight and yet another profile in courage.

Eubank followed with fourteen successful defenses of the acquired crown, knocking off Malinga, dropping Benn in front of 42,000 for their rematch draw, and decisioning the tough Graciano Rochigianni.  His reign would end in a 1995 unanimous decision battle with Collins where each man came off the floor and Eubank came close to recapturing the throne later the same year in a split decision rematch just as worthy of an audience.  His final three high profile fights would also be losses.  First came a tense battle with a rising Joe Calzaghe and then in two epic encounters at Cruiserweight with the larger Carl Thompson, the first of which many felt Eubank won and the second his sole stoppage loss in what would be his farewell.

Eubanks tenure as a titlist, 17-0-2 over two weight classes prior to the first Collins bout, stacks up well with the newly enshrined Canizales and his strength of schedule may have been better.  The same comparison can be made of two other long reigning titlists not yet selected but with strong hardcore support, Myung Wuh Yuh and Jung Koo Chang.  He suffers in lack of American recognition and notable American foes, but America is not the only house of talent.  Eubank’s career is proof. 

Steve Collins (36-3, 21 KO)
Career: 10/24/1986-07/05/1997

Like Benn, Collins got some choice exposure in the U.S. even if it didn’t end with his hand raised.  In only his seventeenth bout, Collins gave up years and some twenty bouts experience in 1990 to future Hall of Famer Mike McCallum on ABC’s Wide World of Sports in challenge for the WBA Middleweight belt.  The wide scorecards win for McCallum doesn’t speak to the spirited, often thrilling encounter which ensued.  Two more tough losses would follow in 1992, the first an exciting split decision decided on a single point against Reggie Johnson on Showtime (for the belt vacated by McCallum when “The Body Snatcher” pursued James Toney) and the second a points loss to another man who has his own case to be up for a vote some day, former WBA titlist and defensive gem Sumbu Kalambay. 

Collins of the three may seem the least likely candidate for the Hall of Fame, but his attachment to Benn and Eubank makes it impossible to ignore Collins.  In front of some 40,000 of his countrymen, he upended Eubank for WBO honors at 168, repeated the feat, and then stopped Benn twice.  In what would turn out to be his final bout, Collins came off the floor to thrash Craig Cummings in his seventh title defense.  Injuries, some reportedly life threatening head problems, curtailed what might have been bouts with Calzaghe and Roy Jones.  How Collins would have fared in either is left to the imagination.  Possessed of an iron will, aggression, and a solid chin, Collins was an idol to his nation and a man who never left a fan feeling they’d wasted their coin.

Final Analysis

There are two questions at play here and, even if they might not feel like it, they are different questions.  The first is whether or not any or all of the men noted here deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.  The second is what is addressed here: do they belong on the ballot. 

The answer to the second should be an emphatic yes.  From there, it is up to the voters. 

They meet the standards established for consideration.  They engaged in big fights, put on great shows, faced tough opposition, and sold tickets.  Lots of tickets.  If there is not room for all of them, all at once, the successes of Benn and Eubank prior to their bouts with Collins and stronger overall resumes should see them up for a vote first.

Regardless, they all stack up well with men already enshrined or likely to be.  Comparisons between Benn and Gatti, or the enshrined Bobby Chacon, are more than fair.  The Canizales-Eubank comparison is established and can be enhanced when considering this: for all his title defenses at 118 lbs., Canizales arguably lost to the two best fighters he ever faced (Wilfredo Vasquez, Junior Jones).  Eubank stopped Benn and Watson.  Irish Featherweight Barry McGuigan and Heavyweight Ingo Johansen are both fighters entered into the Hall largely on the strength of fame and singular big wins against big names Eusebio Pedroza and Floyd Patterson.  Take those names away and neither has any case at all for Canastota.  The same can be said here for Collins and his wins versus Eubank and Benn.

So, no, it’s never too early to think about next year.  Given three men twice past their eligibility date, starting a little momentum on the argument early might be the only way to get it heard.

The Weekly Ledger

But wait, there’s more…some of it focused on the year that was, other stuff on the year still going on.

Cliff’s Notes…

So if Vitali Klitschko faces David Haye, will it be for the full WBC belt or just the ‘Emeritus’ crown?  One wonders since former Cruiserweight titlist Juan Carlos Gomez paid a sanctioning fee in September, beat Vladimir Virchis, and supposedly earned a mandatory…Manny Pacquiao versus Ricky Hatton, should it happen on May 2, speaks volumes about the inroads Pacquiao has made with Mexicans and Mexican-Americans…Joe Calzaghe’s ‘Boxing is dying’ blast is like most such quotes.  It can be taken with a grain of salt.  However, the vitriolic response it’s getting might say a lot about how quietly perturbed some are that Calzaghe hasn’t been the Euro-sham they really thought he’d be exposed as by now and through all these years…It’s now been one week since the final bell to Adamek-Cunnigham.  Why isn’t the rematch signed yet?  Just kidding.  Sort of.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com