Gerald McClellan..

[imp]

We have all watched the fight, the documentaries and the reviews.

Terrible trainer, bad referee, departure of Manny Steward, warrior spirit of Benn..

What would you put down as the main reason for what happened to Gerald on that night?

How great could he have been?

Did you like him?

168 or 175 future P4P boxer?

Roy jones buddy and future opponent?

Discuss.

[Master]

I am convinced that G Man was damaged in his first fight with Julian Jackson who was battering him for 3 rounds and we all know how hard he hits. Gerald was complaining of headaches in the interview after the fight.

G Man loved his power which meant he did not refine his boxing skills as much as he should have and he could have won a decision against Benn if he used his jab.

As such G Man would not have received the heights of Roy Jones and become a light heavyweight champion.

People harsh on G Man because he openly admitted to engaging in dog fighting.

[imp]

I need to watch that Julian Jackson fight again.

[Master]

I need to watch that Julian Jackson fight again.

It is a good fight! The rematch was a blow out however.

[Batman]

I am convinced that G Man was damaged in his first fight with Julian Jackson who was battering him for 3 rounds and we all know how hard he hits. Gerald was complaining of headaches in the interview after the fight.

G Man loved his power which meant he did not refine his boxing skills as much as he should have and he could have won a decision against Benn if he used his jab.

As such G Man would not have received the heights of Roy Jones and become a light heavyweight champion.

People harsh on G Man because he openly admitted to engaging in dog fighting.

and people are quite right to be harsh on him

[erics44]

I am convinced that G Man was damaged in his first fight with Julian Jackson who was battering him for 3 rounds and we all know how hard he hits. Gerald was complaining of headaches in the interview after the fight.

G Man loved his power which meant he did not refine his boxing skills as much as he should have and he could have won a decision against Benn if he used his jab.

As such G Man would not have received the heights of Roy Jones and become a light heavyweight champion.

People harsh on G Man because he openly admitted to engaging in dog fighting.

and people are quite right to be harsh on him

dog fighting is horrible

yet millions of people around the world that openly condemn it, all of who will gladly wake up to a bacon butty, meat that comes from a pig that has had atrocious living conditions through out a short horrendous life

and the pig lives and dies like this in its millions and millions, yet the dog fight claims lives in the hundreds every year

[El Kabong]

McClellan was a fighter...he wasn't a boxer he was a fighter. He fell in love with his power, he didn't believe in hit and don't get hit, he would just wade into somebody and figured they couldn't take what he could dish out. He was similar to Arturo Gatti in that sense, but when Gatti got to a certain point in his career he decided to learn to BOX.....G-Man just got brain damage before that epiphany struck him.



Would he have posed a problem to RJJ? Eh....doubtful, I think power vs power they were on par with each other but RJJ could BOX he could stick and move whereas G-Man just stuck. RJJ would have boxed Gerald's ears off.



As for the Benn fight, how Benn was allowed to continue through the first was horrible, and how Gerald was allowed to continue later on was horrible

[imp]

I am convinced that G Man was damaged in his first fight with Julian Jackson who was battering him for 3 rounds and we all know how hard he hits. Gerald was complaining of headaches in the interview after the fight.

G Man loved his power which meant he did not refine his boxing skills as much as he should have and he could have won a decision against Benn if he used his jab.

As such G Man would not have received the heights of Roy Jones and become a light heavyweight champion.

People harsh on G Man because he openly admitted to engaging in dog fighting.

and people are quite right to be harsh on him

dog fighting is horrible

yet millions of people around the world that openly condemn it, all of who will gladly wake up to a bacon butty, meat that comes from a pig that has had atrocious living conditions through out a short horrendous life

and the pig lives and dies like this in its millions and millions, yet the dog fight claims lives in the hundreds every year

Completely agree.

And don't forget about those c@nts that are involved in bullfighting.

[erics44]

I am convinced that G Man was damaged in his first fight with Julian Jackson who was battering him for 3 rounds and we all know how hard he hits. Gerald was complaining of headaches in the interview after the fight.

G Man loved his power which meant he did not refine his boxing skills as much as he should have and he could have won a decision against Benn if he used his jab.

As such G Man would not have received the heights of Roy Jones and become a light heavyweight champion.

People harsh on G Man because he openly admitted to engaging in dog fighting.

and people are quite right to be harsh on him

dog fighting is horrible

yet millions of people around the world that openly condemn it, all of who will gladly wake up to a bacon butty, meat that comes from a pig that has had atrocious living conditions through out a short horrendous life

and the pig lives and dies like this in its millions and millions, yet the dog fight claims lives in the hundreds every year

Completely agree.

And don't forget about those c@nts that are involved in bullfighting.

yes exactly

and fox hunting

fox hunting kills 100 foxes a year, all foxes who have had a free and normal life up until their death, compare that life to the vast majority of the millions and millions of cows bread for meat

and all these people will eat half a beef butty and throw the rest coz they don't fancy it, and never bat an eye lid, but the some one mentions fox hunting, theyre raging about the cruelty

[Beanz]

I think even the top neuro surgeons would be hard pushed to identify one specific cause of such catastrophic injuries. Even in people not engaging in sports that cause head trauma damage is not always an event based single trauma. When they opened up my Mrs head they found several older aneurysms that had occurred before the one that took her down. She had run and Hit punch bags etc but never sparred or even fell off a push bike etc. McCellan had sparred God knows how many rounds, fought many fights with people trained to try and inflict brain damage, which is what kos are when you strip away the pretty language. So the big surprise is really that it does not happen to many others.

[Hulk]

I think even the top neuro surgeons would be hard pushed to identify one specific cause of such catastrophic injuries. Even in people not engaging in sports that cause head trauma damage is not always an event based single trauma. When they opened up my Mrs head they found several older aneurysms that had occurred before the one that took her down. She had run and Hit punch bags etc but never sparred or even fell off a push bike etc. McCellan had sparred God knows how many rounds, fought many fights with people trained to try and inflict brain damage, which is what kos are when you strip away the pretty language. So the big surprise is really that it does not happen to many others.

I'm very sorry to hear about your wife. Brain aneurysms are terrifying stuff. Unpredictable.

[Beanz]

I think even the top neuro surgeons would be hard pushed to identify one specific cause of such catastrophic injuries. Even in people not engaging in sports that cause head trauma damage is not always an event based single trauma. When they opened up my Mrs head they found several older aneurysms that had occurred before the one that took her down. She had run and Hit punch bags etc but never sparred or even fell off a push bike etc. McCellan had sparred God knows how many rounds, fought many fights with people trained to try and inflict brain damage, which is what kos are when you strip away the pretty language. So the big surprise is really that it does not happen to many others.

I'm very sorry to hear about your wife. Brain aneurysms are terrifying stuff. Unpredictable.

Thank you mate. 26 years ago now and she is still bending me ear Understanding of brain injuries, strokes etc is much better now and if they can treat people early the prognosis is often very good. The BBBOC insistence on havng paramedics ringside and an ambulance ready to take fighters to hospital here, is a very positive move that has undoubtedly save many from serious life long injury and death. but it will always be a dangerous way to earn a living.

[ykdadamaja]

We have all watched the fight, the documentaries and the reviews.

Terrible trainer, bad referee, departure of Manny Steward, warrior spirit of Benn..

What would you put down as the main reason for what happened to Gerald on that night?

How great could he have been?

Did you like him?

168 or 175 future P4P boxer?

Roy jones buddy and future opponent?

Discuss.

British boxing, at that time, had a speight of bad stoppages and curious injuries and was criticized due to their lack of care of fighters.

[sanatogen]

On surface reading of articles at the time, McLellans family were irresponsible to move him from the UK Hospital.

Neurosurgeon assigned to Mclellan advised against it.

Almost as if the Family didn't think much of the medical staff and put them in the same category as witch doctors.

[Batman]

I've just sat down and watched the fight in its entirety for the first time in years, it's amazing how Benn survived that first round and its also amazing how I don't think he even attempted a single combo in the duration of the fight, every punch was an attempt to kill McClellan.

I was only 9 at the time of the fight so I don't remember it first time around and I don't really remember much of Benn being an active boxer, I remember the build up to the Steve Collins fight but not the actual fight.

A few questions:
How big of a fight was this at the time, was it a huge fuck off GGG v Alvarez style fight or was it more of an Alvarez v Smith fight
Was Benn really such an underdog, I'm sure they mentioned at one point in the fight that McClellan's odds were 1/3 or something along them lines
Some people say that McClellan was damaged goods before the fight, did his performance seem 'off' compared to his previous scraps? I know he had never gone past the 3rd before what about the first three rounds, did he look out of sorts then?
Just how big of a prospect was McClellan at the time of the fight, again I know he was blowing people out of there in the 1st round a lot of the time but lets be honest Wilder does that and no one see's him as the second coming, was McClellans opposition decent or was he just put in with fodder to make him look good?