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"Duff matched me with Dangerous Don Lee, who was one of the most avoided and feared middleweights from that period. Yes, the same Don Lee that I lost to at that dual meet in Detroit some seven years earlier. Lee was no longer the dangerman he had been in the mid-eighties, but he was still a considerable step up in class for me when we met at the Wembley Arena in February 1988. The fight was savage at times and Lee could really **** hard, but Duff had spies on Lee's sparring sessions here before the fight. He brought over sparring partner Gerald McClellan with him, and our spies reported back that they saw how Lee flinched every time he was left hooked to the body. I started to get to him and in Round Five I feinted overhand rights that had hurt him earlier in that fight, only to dig a left to the ribs. The referee called a halt to the fight. Lee's lip was badly cut and I was ready to set him up for a painful end, I'm glad the referee stepped in when he did because I didn't want to hurt him any further. I was a Top Ten contender during the era of Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran, it was a great era to be a Top Ten contender."
"I attended the Royal Albert Hall to get a close up of my possible next opponent, if I got past Benn. The winner of the fight between Herol Graham and Mike McCallum would meet either Benn or me. I bumped into Chris Eubank, and he introduced his name when talking to me about the future. This was odd because Eubank was unknown and untested, having turned professional in America. But Eubank told me that he had got the better of both Herol Graham and Mike McCallum in the gym over the previous few months and claimed that they weren't fit enough to tie his laces. Eubank was a good talker and, despite having only had thirteen fights, he was issuing challenges to Benn and me long before our fight. I had heard of him. I had read a profile about him in the first-ever edition of Boxing Monthly, which also carried a preview of my fight at Finsbury Park. The profile was a bit over the top, but it was not as bad as the preview and prediction for my fight: Benn was tipped to beat me in one round! Hearn told me that he was looking to bring Eubank into the equation somewhere down the line in fights against Nigel or me. In the weeks after winning the purse bid, I thought he was mad when he said this. To me, Eubank was a nobody - he was fighting losers, and the fans had already decided that they didn't really like his attitude or style. But I'll never forget that when pushing for a twelve round fight with Johnny Melfah or Rod Douglas, Eubank video recorded himself knocking out American journeyman Reggie Miller in thirty seconds at Ronnie Davies' gym in Brighton. He then spoke to the camera saying, `Miller went twelve rounds total with Melfah and Douglas, he didn't last one minute with me. They are running scared'. His wish was granted and he almost took Melfah's head off, that's when I knew that Eubank was a major player. Melfah had won ABA middleweight titles in 1983 and 1984, losing to Nigel Benn in 1986, he was no slouch at all before he bumped into Eubank."
"The biggest names from that period, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran, all had one thing in common - none of them had ever shared a ring with the `Body Snatcher'."
"Hemsworth had briefly told me about one particular plan of his, and I had listened as he explained the possible route that I could take. The reporters were heating up - they wanted names and dates and schedules because back then a boxing press conference was only called to give out information. I understand it is very different now, but on that afternoon the pack wanted some facts and figures. Hemsworth took over and started to outline the next twelve months of my boxing career, beginning with a fight in October 1990 and ending with a fight in the summer of 1991. He announced that I would clear £2.5 million in total. There is nothing the boxing press likes more than a nice thick figure, and in 1990 £2.5 million was a lot of cash! `A major American boxing promoter has made the offer to us and we have put together a realistic schedule for Michael to become the number one middleweight in the world by the end of the summer of 1991. The People's Choice, The People's Champion, the nice guy of boxing will come out on top,' Hemsworth continued. Eric was with me on the top table and the pair of us just kept on smiling because we were not really sure where the conversation and the claims were going. I was asked about the American promoter and I replied that I couldn't say too much. However, Hemsworth, who was really starting to enjoy himself, said that it was Bob Arum, who at that time was promoting Nigel Benn's American fights. Arum and Don King were the giants of boxing then, a pair of untouchable men with the power to move mountains, slice open oceans and make impossible fights happen. Hemsworth told the reporters that the October fight would just be a warm-up and that in December I would meet the Boston-based Dubliner Steve Collins, who had earlier that year survived twelve hard rounds with McCallum. There was, according to Hemsworth, another easy fight planned for early January in America, and then in the spring of 1991 I would have a rematch with Benn. The final fight of the five would be a middleweight unification showdown at Wembley Stadium against Michael Nunn in the summer."
"I knew I could beat Mike Nunn. I fought him as an amateur at a dual meet in Detroit in 1984, I lost 17-13 but landed the cleaner shots in the third round and almost knocked him out on a number of occasions with my right hand. He said `See you in LA' after the fight. I expected our paths would cross again, probably at the Los Angeles Olympics otherwise for the world professional title. He saw me carve up my opponent on his undercard when he won the title, the fight was stopped due to a clash of heads but I made my mark and Mike Nunn wouldn't give me a shot. I lost to Don Lee in 1981 but avenged the defeat. I thought I could do the same to Nunn, definately."
"In December 2003 I was invited to the BBC's Sports Review of the Year. It was a magnificent event and I was stunned when `Marvelous' Marvin Hagler appeared on the set and presented me with the Helen Rollason award for courage and achievement in the face of adversity. Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank joined me, and for the first time ever we were gathered together in the same room. It was a wonderful end to a memorable year."
"I attended the Royal Albert Hall to get a close up of my possible next opponent, if I got past Benn. The winner of the fight between Herol Graham and Mike McCallum would meet either Benn or me. I bumped into Chris Eubank, and he introduced his name when talking to me about the future. This was odd because Eubank was unknown and untested, having turned professional in America. But Eubank told me that he had got the better of both Herol Graham and Mike McCallum in the gym over the previous few months and claimed that they weren't fit enough to tie his laces. Eubank was a good talker and, despite having only had thirteen fights, he was issuing challenges to Benn and me long before our fight. I had heard of him. I had read a profile about him in the first-ever edition of Boxing Monthly, which also carried a preview of my fight at Finsbury Park. The profile was a bit over the top, but it was not as bad as the preview and prediction for my fight: Benn was tipped to beat me in one round! Hearn told me that he was looking to bring Eubank into the equation somewhere down the line in fights against Nigel or me. In the weeks after winning the purse bid, I thought he was mad when he said this. To me, Eubank was a nobody - he was fighting losers, and the fans had already decided that they didn't really like his attitude or style. But I'll never forget that when pushing for a twelve round fight with Johnny Melfah or Rod Douglas, Eubank video recorded himself knocking out American journeyman Reggie Miller in thirty seconds at Ronnie Davies' gym in Brighton. He then spoke to the camera saying, `Miller went twelve rounds total with Melfah and Douglas, he didn't last one minute with me. They are running scared'. His wish was granted and he almost took Melfah's head off, that's when I knew that Eubank was a major player. Melfah had won ABA middleweight titles in 1983 and 1984, losing to Nigel Benn in 1986, he was no slouch at all before he bumped into Eubank."
"The biggest names from that period, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran, all had one thing in common - none of them had ever shared a ring with the `Body Snatcher'."
"Hemsworth had briefly told me about one particular plan of his, and I had listened as he explained the possible route that I could take. The reporters were heating up - they wanted names and dates and schedules because back then a boxing press conference was only called to give out information. I understand it is very different now, but on that afternoon the pack wanted some facts and figures. Hemsworth took over and started to outline the next twelve months of my boxing career, beginning with a fight in October 1990 and ending with a fight in the summer of 1991. He announced that I would clear £2.5 million in total. There is nothing the boxing press likes more than a nice thick figure, and in 1990 £2.5 million was a lot of cash! `A major American boxing promoter has made the offer to us and we have put together a realistic schedule for Michael to become the number one middleweight in the world by the end of the summer of 1991. The People's Choice, The People's Champion, the nice guy of boxing will come out on top,' Hemsworth continued. Eric was with me on the top table and the pair of us just kept on smiling because we were not really sure where the conversation and the claims were going. I was asked about the American promoter and I replied that I couldn't say too much. However, Hemsworth, who was really starting to enjoy himself, said that it was Bob Arum, who at that time was promoting Nigel Benn's American fights. Arum and Don King were the giants of boxing then, a pair of untouchable men with the power to move mountains, slice open oceans and make impossible fights happen. Hemsworth told the reporters that the October fight would just be a warm-up and that in December I would meet the Boston-based Dubliner Steve Collins, who had earlier that year survived twelve hard rounds with McCallum. There was, according to Hemsworth, another easy fight planned for early January in America, and then in the spring of 1991 I would have a rematch with Benn. The final fight of the five would be a middleweight unification showdown at Wembley Stadium against Michael Nunn in the summer."
"I knew I could beat Mike Nunn. I fought him as an amateur at a dual meet in Detroit in 1984, I lost 17-13 but landed the cleaner shots in the third round and almost knocked him out on a number of occasions with my right hand. He said `See you in LA' after the fight. I expected our paths would cross again, probably at the Los Angeles Olympics otherwise for the world professional title. He saw me carve up my opponent on his undercard when he won the title, the fight was stopped due to a clash of heads but I made my mark and Mike Nunn wouldn't give me a shot. I lost to Don Lee in 1981 but avenged the defeat. I thought I could do the same to Nunn, definately."
"In December 2003 I was invited to the BBC's Sports Review of the Year. It was a magnificent event and I was stunned when `Marvelous' Marvin Hagler appeared on the set and presented me with the Helen Rollason award for courage and achievement in the face of adversity. Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank joined me, and for the first time ever we were gathered together in the same room. It was a wonderful end to a memorable year."
to your mom..
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