His last-ever interviews before he spents the rest of his life with God, he drops all modesty and tells it like it is!
On Amir Khan
'I fought a world prospect in my first year and beat him in seven rounds when I'd never really been beyond one or two rounds in my life. I don't know if Amir's close to fighting a British prospect yet and he's been in it for three years. So it's still not possible to say mate, but I wish him all the best and you'll just have to wait and see.
'After three years I was fighting (Iran) Barkley of all people, he was so ugly tears wouldn't run down his face and he'd sparked Tommy Hearns and had the pound-for-pound fighter running away all night. I went into his backyard and sparked him in a round. So there you go mate.'
On pay-per-view
'Listen, mate, I'm telling you. If the Watson and McClellan and the Barkley and Eubank fights were all on pay-per-view, I'd have made 100 million quid!'
On drawing power
'Me and Mike Tyson are the biggest draws in boxing since 1987. Why? Because you knew what you got with us - X-rated violence. Win, lose or draw, you were getting X-rated violence.'
On being No.1.
'When I won my super middleweight title - with Italian fan's spit all over me and my opponent's blood all over me - I called for Barkley and I called for Eubank and they didn't want to know. And there was Michael Nunn, and he ends up losing on my undercard. Then they unleash the mini-Mike Tyson on me. The guy nobody wanted to fight, the guy who had everyone running scared. They unleashed him on me.
'Listen, mate, I worked my backside off all my life to be world champion and I always dreamed of defending it in England when Eubank came along and buggered it up for me. This was five years on. And I'd already been Gerald McClellan! Before the Watson fight, I was Gerald McClellan! I'd seen all sides of each coin and there was only going to be one winner that night, mate. And you know what? I'm glad I kept the title in England and defended it at Wembley Stadium and all that.
'In the army, if your No.2., you're treated just like No.200. You're treated like crap on the floor. For a schoolyard bully, it's demoralising. I had to be No.1. in the army, and doing that for five years it made me want to be No.1. in boxing, and I was No.1. in boxing! Nobody came up faster, nobody came back from a loss like that to win a world title the next year, everyone said Nunn was the best but he ran away from Barkley for 12 rounds and I sparked him in one, and we all know the WBA belt is No.2. and Bob Arum is No.2.
'Let me tell you a little story. My big brother, Andy, was the hardest kid around. He was well hard. He was street. He was king of the tough guys in Ilford. I loved him far more than I've ever loved anyone, bar Jesus Christ. When he died, all I ever wanted to be was king of the tough guys to do Andy proud. The Gerald McClellan fight was just the cherry on the top.'
His last-ever interviews before he spents the rest of his life with God, he drops all modesty and tells it like it is!
Great post m8!! Nigel was and still is a top geeza! He always had time for ya..I remember when I was a nipper and he just got hes New Escort Rs he only lived round the corner of Burges round in Eastham! He sign a few photos for me and my m8s and spent about 2 hrs having a chat, About a sound :boxing: system he had just bought for his house lol
:boxing: Top bloke top fights, A true fighter dont get many like that now days!:boxing:
Benn says Jones was the one who wanted the fight and that he'd have 'killed me off' because Gerald McClellan had punched so much out of him
When did he say this? I've heard lots of different stories about Benn and RJJ and I'm not sure who wanted to fight who. I've heard that RJJ turned down an offer from Benn and I've also heard that Benn turned down an offer from RJJ. Why did the fight never happen?
I'm quite sure that Collins was willing to fight Roy Jones though.
Benn retired (again) after the first Collins fight.
I heard an immediate rematch was ordered because of the way the fight ended (injury). My sources aren't very dependable (wikipedia, boxing forums, some boxing sites) so I would like to hear something more official.
was the fight going to be in the UK or US?
Don King offered them $25million each in 1995 and the venue didn't matter, either were willing to fight in US or UK
Why didn't RJJ fight Benn immediately after the McClellan fight? I doubt he wanted to fight Benn until he lost to Malinga. Hard to fight a guy who seriously injured your friend.
Benn says Jones was the one who wanted the fight and that he'd have 'killed me off' because Gerald McClellan had punched so much out of him
Jones offered to fight Benn and Collins when they had their two fights. They couldn't take his offer because they had a rematch clause.
Benn retired (again) after the first Collins fight.
Jones offered to fight Benn and Collins when they had their two fights. They couldn't take his offer because they had a rematch clause.
Why didn't RJJ fight Benn immediately after the McClellan fight? I doubt he wanted to fight Benn until he lost to Malinga. Hard to fight a guy who seriously injured your friend.
That RJJ press conference proves nothing, why would Collins duck RJJ? Collins wanted to fight Jones for years.
He is reported to have stated in Boxing World that he has spent so long chasing Roy Jones Jr that money was not an important factor any more and that he would "fight him in a phone box in front of two men and a dog".
There was a two-page spread in the News of the World in Britain.
McClellan said "Is Nigel here? Is Nigel here?" - the first time he'd mentioned him for 12 years. And when he was told that Nigel was there, he said "Does he look mad or sad? Does he look mean or does he look sad?" and he was told Benn looked sad. Then he said "Tell Nigel it's not his fault!", and Benn broke down.
Yaman,
He did meet McClellan again. I can;t find a damned video of it but I read it on Fightnews.com
Benn came to the US a few times and fought them all, unlike Calzaghe.
Really, i'm quite surprised how there was no news of this. I've been waiting for the moment of these 2 men to meet for many years. Now i'm trying to find something and I come up empty.
Juyjuy, you're a man of sources, do you have anything about this?
"Boxing is war, and in war you must be prepared to die." - Gerald McClellan
"We wanted Benn dead, now we want his money." - Lisa McClellan
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGz-unNi1dU
Can't believe anyone could treat that fight as an achievement. It was a sickening display.
"Boxing is war, and in war you must be prepared to die." - Gerald McClellan
"We wanted Benn dead, now we want his money." - Lisa McClellan