47) Steve Collins Lost SD 12: UK Fight Commentary TV -
v Steve Collins II 9 September 1995 WBO Super-Middleweight Cork, Ireland [r1] … Collins almost running across the ring … right hand … Sharp left jab by Eubank … [r2] … A lot of the work is pretty untidy … Good left hook from Eubank … [r3] … [Collins] starting to get through … Collins’ workrate is prodigious … [r4] … Growing confidence about Steve Collins … finding the target … Right uppercut [Eubank] … Collins’ round … [r5] … Better work on the counter [Eubank] … just the single jab [Eubank] … breathing heavily … [Collins] workrate is fantastic … It’s all Collins [McGuigan] … [r6] … Collins piling up the points … [r7] … Collins has hardly taken a backward step … Eubank starting to get his jab working … A cut by the right eye of Collins … [r8] … [Collins] is winning it … good work … looking more tired … [r9] … Collins in a huge lead … good work … fighting like a warrior … [r10] … Eubank is going for broke … now he’s stepped off again … cleaner punching … [r11] … Collins has looked the hungrier fighter … Cleaner work is coming from Eubank … [r12] … Collins is taking a lot … Eubank now getting hit … still finding Eubank’s chin. [114-115 Eubank, 115-113 Collins, 115-113] UK Sky TV commentary
50) Joe Calzghe Lost Points 12: UK Fight Commentary TV -
v Joe Calzaghe 11 October 1997 WBO Super-Middleweight Sheffield England [r1] … A left hand puts Eubank on the floor! … Calzaghe is working him over … in some trouble … [r2] … Right hand from Eubank … Big left from Calzaghe … super confident … [r3] … The birth of a new star … left hand … nice uppercuts … [r4] … Left hand: big shot Calzaghe … fast hands … He’s beginning to club Eubank around … A busier Eubank … [r5] … Calzaghe won’t give Eubank a second … Good left hand from Eubank … countering … Big [Calzaghe] left and a right … [r6] … The young man is the boss … Left hand and right uppercut from Eubank … straight right … What a fight … superb … Straight left hand [Calzaghe] … right hand and another left hook … [r7] … Punch for punch trade-off … Big right from Eubank … He would have taken that round … [r8] … Good body shots from Eubank … Calzaghe will not be dominated … another right hand … Calzaghe big lead … Good body shots from Eubank … Calzaghe is still winging away … [r9] … The eager Calzaghe … right hand … clubbing Eubank around … good left hand … [r10] … That has to be a knockdown … [r11] … Calzaghe: in the big money league … [r12] … Calzaghe still got that bounce in his step … Calzaghe has come of age … All the work coming from Calzaghe. UK Sky TV commentary
[8.7] NIGEL BENN 48-42(35)-5-1 [Super-Middleweight & Middleweight]: Nigel Benn - Daily Telegraph - The Fight of Their Lives TV - Fight Commentary TV - Reg Gutteridge - ITV Co-Commentator -
All of my career I was addicted to drugs. Nigel Benn
I couldn’t go in a ring knowing that I’ve taken steroids because then I know I would have known a cheat ... I’ve never taken any Anabolic steroids. Nigel Benn
Boxing World Steps in to Help McClellan: Benn v McClellan remains one of the most dramatic, exciting title fights in boxing history. The ring warriors battered each other almost to death in from of 12,000 spectators at the London Arena, with 13 million more watching on television. The World Boxing Council super-middleweight title fight’s tragic consequences are a reminder of the dangers every fighter faces, and the poverty it can lead to.
Today, Gerald McClellan is deaf, blind and consigned to a wheelchair with permanent brain damage …
Exactly that is happening in London as a result of the wishes of Nigel Benn. McClellan and Benn will both attend a gala fund-raising dinner at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel tomorrow night – the first time they have met since the fight 12 years ago.
Forty-two British and world champions are attending the event, although Michael Watson, the British fighter who made a recovery from life-saving brain surgery, is away with his family … Daily Telegraph article 25 February 1995
v George McClellan Super-Middleweight, The London Arena 25th February 1995: Gerald McClellan was a two-time world boxing champion by the age of 25. At the Kronk Gym in Detroit he worked with the renowned trainer Emanuel Steward. The Fight of Their Lives, ITV 2011
A former soldier with the taste for the playboy life Nigel Benn embraced every career opportunity. ibid.
By early 1995 Benn was world super-middleweight champion but still seeking critical acclaim. Most had warned the 31-year-old to go nowhere near Gerald McClellan. ibid.
The full extent of McClellan’s injury was still unclear hours after the fight. ibid.
The promoters and their boxers knew the value of victory. ibid.
Inside observers have already noticed something about McClellan. ibid.
By the end of Round 9 experts ringside had McClellan well ahead. ibid.
Eight years after he attempted suicide, Benn and his wife Caroline became born-again Christians. ibid.
In February 2007 Nigel Benn returned to London for his first meeting with Gerald McClellan since the fight. Benn had organised a fund-raising dinner for his former opponent. ibid.
Benn’s tribute to McClellan raised £200,000. ibid.
After one minutes and thirty nine seconds of Round 10 it was all over. ibid.
Twenty years ago he [McClellan] spent his first major pay check on a house where he still lives today. ibid.
It was Nigel Benn’s defining victory. ibid.
On his [Benn] way to the dressing room he collapsed. ibid.
Five weeks after Benn fought McClellan parliament debated a motion calling for the abolition of professional boxing. It was resoundingly defeated. ibid.
This isn’t a fight, it’s a Hollywood script. Fight commentary
He’s blinking a lot, isn’t he? Reg Gutteridge, fight commentary
We have a serious problem in the ring with Gerald McClellan. ibid. ITV co-commentator
23) Michael Watson ***** Lost TKO6: UK Fight Commentary TV -
v Michael Watson 21 May 1989 Finsbury Park London [r1] … He’s [Benn] come out firing … The crowd are absolutely baying for Benn … He’s [Watson] throwing good punches … Banging away to the body Benn … He’s [Watson] taking some whacks around the side of the head … We knew it would be explosive … [r2] … Benn piling on this pressure but smart countering and covering up by Watson … [r3] … He really does lean in with the shots now Nigel Benn … He’s [Watson] standing his ground … [r4] … Another good left hook from Benn … Watson knows he can shake Benn … bang in trouble … oh what a return … what an incredible fight … [r5] … He’s [Benn] taken a few … What a round … non-stop … Benn looks badly shaken … [r6] … A perfect punch [Watson] … Oh he’s [Benn] gone … He’s been counted out on his feet … The underdog has won and he’s done it in style. UK fight commentary Reg Gutteridge & Jim Watt
28) Iran Barclay TKO1: US Fight Commentary TV -
v Iran Barclay 18th August 1990 WBO Middleweight Nevada [r1] … Two of boxing’s better brawlers … Benn a 5/9 favourite … Nigel Benn lands a right … Barclay in the right is down! … counter-punch by Iran Barclay … Both men are hurt … Check it out! … A good right hand by Benn … Another combination … Barclay is down! … There goes Barclay down on the ground … He’s stopping it! US fight commentary
29) Chris Eubank ***** Lost TKO9: UK Fight Commentary TV -
v Chris Eubank 18th November 1990 WBO Middleweight Birmingham England [r1] … I’ve never known opinion so sharply divided … Billed as ‘Who’s fooling who?’ … [Both] throwing punches early … Benn has been shaken in most of his recent contests … The first decent shots that have landed have come from Eubank … [r2] … He’s looking to mess Benn about … This is when Benn’s dangerous when he’s caught himself … That was a good shot [Benn] … He’s done Benn by the look of it … He chopped that right hand down … [r3] … Eubank is taking these punches well … Eubank soaked up those punches and came straight back … 8/11 on Benn … Eubank’s nailed him with a couple of nice uppercuts … He [Eubank] was rocked there as well … [r4] … Lovely shot from Eubank … that’s when he’s [Benn] dangerous … A lovely uppercut shot that shook Eubank … His [Eubank] defences are coming apart … Benn’s left eye … [r5] … Another good right hand [Benn] … That’s the sort of boxing we expect from Eubank … Picking his shots well there Eubank … Benn getting caught a little bit more often … [r6] … Eubank he’s teasing a bit … his [Eubank’s] undercarriage there … A good [Benn] body punch … He’s [Eubank] juiced up now … A very interesting fight [Frank Bruno] … [r7] … Benn’s got a little bit more edge in his attack … Two good shots now [Eubank] … [r8] … He [Eubank] got clipped [standing 8] … Pretty even … [r9] … Eubank just a little bit negative … Oh what a shot that is [Eubank] … It’s all over. UK ITV fight commentary Reg Gutteridge & Jim Watt
40) Chris Eubank II Draw: UK Fight Commentary TV -
v Chris Eubank 9 October 1993 WBC WBO Super-Middleweight Manchester [r1] … Both world champions … He’s [Eubank] started far more positively … Some good shots landed … [r2] … Benn’s quicker now … doing better … [r3] … [Benn] throws bombs … good right hand lead from Eubank … very very careful … [r4] … Good right hand punch [Benn] … Ragged stuff from Benn … [r5] … A tear-up … exploded into life … [r6] … Eubank knows he is the stronger of the two … One point taken off [Benn] … Dumped him [Benn] out of the ring … Good right hand again from Benn … [r7] … His [Eubank] timing is off … [r8] … Benn’s been that little bit busier … A little bit scrappy … [r9] … Good left hook from Benn … He’s talking to Benn … Benn looking a bit ragged … There’s not much in it .. [r10] … Good left hook [Benn] … [r11] … Snap’s gone out of Benn’s work … [r12] … A lovely right hand [Benn] … Drawn decisions are all the vogue … He’s [Eubank] doing all the work … All over … McGuigan’s got it a draw … [115-113 Eubank, 114-113 Benn, 114-114] UK ITV fight commentary Reg Gutteridge & Jim Watt
47) Steve Collins Lost TKO4: UK Fight Commentary TV -
v Steve Collins 6 July 1996 WBO Super-Middleweight Manchester England [r1] … Good punches from Collins … good body shots … Benn slipping the punches … Collins won the first … [r2] … Untidy inside … Good [Benn] uppercut … the right hand … [r3] … Good left hook from Benn … good left hook … and three more … Collins now in the ascendancy … and a left hook again from Benn … This round has ebbed and flowed … [r4] … Good left hook there from Collins … He’s [Benn] hurt his ankle … and it’s over. UK Sky TV commentary