Benn-Eubank I. Harry Mullan said it started the modern era of boxing and I agree. The whole build-up was amazing, this smug-as-can-be black guy pretending to have a silver spoon in his mouth and denouncing Benn as 'intolerable', 'primitive puncher', 'shallow-minded puncher', 'fraudster' etc and boxing as 'barbaric', 'grotethque blood-thport', and 'a mugs game'. It really was a 'boom', Eubank just came from nowhere and it seemed everyone wanted to see Nigel Benn knock this arrogant fuckers block clean off

What was so intriguing was Eubank claimed to be a boxing master and a grand chess player in the ring etc, yet boxing insiders all thought he was crap. Nobody had really seen Eubank fight yet, so it was interesting to say the least.

The fight itself quickly became a see-saw epic, it was a Sunday night and I was just glued to the screen.

Eubank won everyone over with his post-fight speech and proposal, as if he hadn't (begrudgingly) with his fighting heart in the match itself.


Of course, by the time of the Watson 'robbery' he was hated even more than he was before the Benn fight, but in the end he won everyone over for good when his splattered eye socket from the Thompson cruiserweight fight was splashed over all the papers, so this whole thing was atleast a taster for things to come.

Benn-Eubank I - you'll never beat it!