Gerald McClellan

[BKM-]

He wasn't diagnosed before the fight, on the other hand I don't know if world class boxers at that time got a brain scan before every single fight. He obviously didn't have the sense to go some proper testing after taking Julian Jackson's clubbing shots and complaining about headaches.

So I guess it wasn't proven as it was hearsay. Wikipedia doesn't seem to have the original source anymore but is what his sparring partner Tarick Salmaci said about it:

Tarick Salmaci, a Kronk Gym fighter, claimed later in an interview that he had sparred with McClellan over a year before the Benn fight, and that after McClellan was hit by a jab thrown by Salmaci, McClellan started to blink hard and the session had to be stopped. McClellan initially claimed that he was thumbed, but later admitted to Salmaci in the locker room that he was in fact seriously hurt. Salmaci said that he found it strange that a fighter with McClellan's chin wearing headgear was being hurt by a jab, and that when he noticed McClellan blinking during the Benn fight in the same way, Salmaci was immediately aware that McClellan was in serious trouble. Also notable in hindsight was McClellan complaining of getting regular headaches after his first fight with Julian Jackson in May 1993. In the fight, McClellan's chin resisted Jackson's formidable punching power before McClellan won the fight in round 5, but Jackson's punches may have done some damage to McClellan's brain, such as concussions, that were not noticed at the time.^[9]

It's possible. If you look at the way he fought even when he was more technical, his hands were low and he had tremendous confidence in his chin. This lack of defense however could have been his downfall against other potential opponents of the 90s, brain damage or not.

[QueensburyRules]

Again, you make things up, you don't back them up. Show where McClellan sustained serious injury before the fight.

- - Do pray tell us again Y U brain damaged?

[JAB5239]

- - Do pray tell us again Y U brain damaged?

Yet again, you got NOTHING!!!!

[The D3vil]

McClellan murders all of these people.

He was a legit 6'1", a great athlete, one of the biggest punchers ever, and had great amateur skills, where he actually beat Roy Jones as an amateur.

Nobody like him today.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

McClellan did beat Roy Jones Jr as an amateur, which says something about his potential. On the other hand, as a pro he lost twice to lesser opponents, so there is no certainty at all about what he could have been.

ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY saw the McClellan vs RJJ fight live, if I remember correctly, and could probably tell us a thing or two...

yes, I was there ringside at their fight because I was fighting the same night a few bouts later. It was a very very good fight fought mostly on the inside. What I remember most about it was that Roy spent a lot of time on the ropes but that he was fighting off the ropes very hard, and the fight was fought at an extremely high-level with lots of solid shots landed by both guys

[Kid Cauliflower]

Again, you make things up, you don't back them up. Show where McClellan sustained serious injury before the fight.

It was an impromptu diagnosis from our very own medical mind. You can't blame a man for having information not yet in the books, which of course never will be either. He thrusts the neck of the whiskey bottle six inches down his throat diving for unpublished gems. Some call it inspiration.

[QueensburyRules]

Yet again, you got NOTHING!!!!

- - Hope U brain damage get better before the BarneyBigBoys come calling...

[BKM-]

Rewatched some old fights and earlier in the thread I said McClellan regressed into a head hunter later on but that's not accurate. He had some of the most vicious body punching you will see, atleast the type where the boxer tries to end it with one shot to the body. Particularly his left hook to the liver was lethal, his very wide torso and long arms almost created a slingshot effect when he fired off that left hook.
Vo26rH.gif

A HL video. This doesn't even include his left hooks against Mugabi, Jackson and Benn.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1040562849766302

Benn said he got hit so hard he felt his ribs crack(or bruised, can't remember) and he was so damaged that if Gerald hit him on that spot one more time he would have been finished.

So yeah he wasn't a head hunter but he did try to end the last few fights with one big shot. The problem against Benn was that McClellan wasn't a a straight puncher, his shots were wide and had a longer distance to travel and Benn trained his upperbody and head movement for this fight. You can see McClellan struggle to hit him after he survived that first round.

[JAB5239]

Rewatched some old fights and earlier in the thread I said McClellan regressed into a head hunter later on but that's not accurate. He had some of the most vicious body punching you will see, atleast the type where the boxer tries to end it with one shot to the body. Particularly his left hook to the liver was lethal, his very wide torso and long arms almost created a slingshot effect when he fired off that left hook.
Vo26rH.gif

A HL video. This doesn't even include his left hooks against Mugabi, Jackson and Benn.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1040562849766302

Benn said he got hit so hard he felt his ribs crack(or bruised, can't remember) and he was so damaged that if Gerald hit him on that spot one more time he would have been finished.

So yeah he wasn't a head hunter but he did try to end the last few fights with one big shot. The problem against Benn was that McClellan wasn't a a straight puncher, his shots were wide and had a longer distance to travel and Benn trained his upperbody and head movement for this fight. You can see McClellan struggle to hit him after he survived that first round.

It's gotta be trained into these guys coming out of Kronk. Duane Thomas and Tommy Hearns were viscous body punchers as well. All fighter are trained to go to the body, but these guys were very proficient

[them_apples]

Mclellan took some heavy blows to the back if the head from a hard puncher if I recall. But knowing who Mcllellan was outside of the ring we def can’t rule out he went in with a worse than normal head injury either