The man who would become Britain’s “Dark Destroyer” was born in Ilford on January 22, 1964. Benn came from athletic stock, and his cousin Paul Ince played for Manchester United and is currently the manager of the Milton Keynes Dons. His family was headed by hardworking parents, but the young Benn was essentially a juvenile delinquent.
It was during a four year stint in British Army where he learned both discipline and how to box. Benn had a distinguished amateur career of 41-1, and stood as the undefeated welterweight boxer of the British Army’s First Battalion of Royal Fusiliers. Even though he was a welterweight, he won titles in the Army all the way up to heavyweight, and in 1986 Benn captured England’s ABA middleweight crown. He turned pro shortly after his 23rd birthday, with a knockout of 16-10 Graeme Ahmed in Croydon’s Fairfield Hall.
That first win was the start of a 22-fight knockout streak. Standing 5’9 1/2″ with an average reach, Nigel Benn fought his entire career at 160 and 168 lbs. He had a well-rounded toolkit and could box when he needed to, but Benn’s reputation as the Dark Destroyer was secured by his two-fisted knockout power, action-packed style and willingness to trade bombs. Benn always came into the ring in excellent condition, because he came prepared to wage war if that was what it took to earn him the win.
In April 1988, Benn captured the Commonwealth Middleweight Title. Later in October, while defending that title, he got his first real shock. 15-1-1 Anthony Logan knocked Benn down hard in the 1st, and came out still wobbled for the 2nd. Hammered with a 22-punch flurry, Benn found the fortitude to fire back and crushed Logan with a single left hook. It was a dramatic display of guts and power.
In all, Nigel Benn defended his Commonwealth belt three times when he met Michael Watson in May 1989. A talented boxer, Watson’s skills enabled him to weather the Dark Destroyer’s furious attack. Benn, whose longest fight prior to Watson had lasted seven rounds, punched himself out. Watson stormed back and stopped Benn with a strong left jab. It was the first great fight of what many consider the golden age of British middleweights, and in it Benn lost both his Commonwealth title and his undefeated record.
Moving to America
Following his loss to Watson, Benn changed his strategy for pursuing a world title. He moved to America in search of bigger and higher profile paydays, and by April 1990 he had landed a shot at the WBO Middleweight Title against Doug DeWitt. DeWitt was one of those characters that it would have suited Benn better to have boxed with instead of trying to slug it out, but it was always Benn’s preference to destroy whenever possible. The result was a see-saw war that thrilled the Atlantic City audience. Benn was floored in the 2nd and DeWitt in the 3rd, but it was Benn who went on to hammer DeWitt to the canvas three times in the 8th Round, leading to a TKO win.
Nigel Benn defended his title for the first time against Iran “The Blade” Barkley in August. Barkley was a stone-fisted brawler who had a mixed record against some of the division’s best, but he could not out-punch Benn. In a fiery contest, Benn proved that he both hit harder and took a punch better, knocking Barkley down three times and stopping him in the 1st Round.
That exciting victory led the Dark Destroyer home. In November 1990, Benn met the rising 24-0 Chris Eubank in Birmingham. A flamboyant figure who affected an aristocratic style and wielded a lot of trash talk, Eubank got under Benn’s skin and the run-up to the fight established these two men as the bitterest rivals of their era. It was the second great fight of the golden age of British middleweights, with both men earning a then-unheard of 250,000 pounds.
Once the fight started, so much leather flew that many feared for the health of both men, as Eubank met Benn blow for blow. Benn undoubtedly hit harder, but Eubank could take a punch and possessed an awkward, skillful style that kept him out of the worst of Benn’s destruction. The pace and toll of Eubank’s punches were more than Benn could tolerate. In a fight that was pretty much even on the scorecards up to that point, Benn faltered and was stopped in the 9th.
Up to Super Middleweight
Nigel Benn’s second defeat encouraged him to move up to 168 lbs. in order to keep his opportunities flowing. After several minor fights, his first comeback was a knockout of fringe contender Robbie Sims, the half-brother of the great Marvin Hagler. Benn’s comeback firmly established by a May 1992 points victory over South African contender Thulani “Sugarboy” Malinga. That victory earned him an October shot at the WBC super middleweight crown over Italian Mauro Galvano on that fighter’s home turf. Benn’s fury busted Galvano up, and the fight was stopped in the 4th on cuts. Just like that, Nigel Benn was a two-time, two-division world champion.
Benn would defend his WBC crown three times, including a rematch with Galvano that saw him with a clean points victory, when the fight every British boxing fan wanted to see was finally made: Eubank vs. Benn II. A crowd of 42,000 gathered into the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester that night in October 1993 to see the still-undefeated WBO champ meet the WBC champ, most of them rooting for the Dark Destroyer. Millions more tuned in from around the world.
This fight was more tactical than the first, showing that Eubank came away from the first encounter with a healthy respect for Benn, despite his knockout victory. Sparks flew at the end of most rounds, as each man tried to put his stamp on the conclusion of the stanza. At one point, Benn had a critical point deducted for hitting below the belt. The fight was obviously going to be close, and both corners told their fighters that the last round was vital to win the fight. Benn and Eubank came out determined to win that round or knock the other guy out, producing what was arguably the most exciting round of boxing in British history. The air was thick with tension as the crowd and audience around the world waited for the scores to be read aloud: 115-113 Eubank, 114-113 Benn, and 114-114. Eubank vs. Benn II had ended in a fair Draw.
In a famous irony, promoter Don King had arranged so both the winner and the loser of Eubank vs. Benn II would be contracted bound to him. As the fight was a Draw, both fighters were (thankfully for them and their bank accounts) free of any ties to the nefarious promoter.
Tragedy
Nigel Benn had partially redeemed his loss to Eubank and was still the WBC Super Middleweight Champion. He moved on from the Eubank rematch in February 1994 by outpointing undefeated Frank Wharton of Britain in his 5th title defense. After beating a journeyman in his 6th defense, Benn met American puncher Gerald McClellan in London.
The February 1995 bout was a showdown between two fearsome bangers, as McClellan had crushed John “The Beast” Mugabi and smashed Julian Jackson in a pair of shoot-outs. Benn was once again called upon to demonstrate his courage when, in the 1st Round, McClellan literally punched Benn out of the ring. Falling through the ropes, Benn got up, got back into the ring and into the fight. The two battled back and forth, but it was clearly Benn who was catching the worse punishment. He was wobbled repeatedly through the fight, and floored in the 8th. However, all was not well with Gerald McClellan. Earlier in the fight, there had been a vicious clash of heads, and a careful viewing of the fight footage shows that McClellan suffered from spasms of blinking for the rest of the fight. Benn stopped McClellan in the 10th.
It was a hard-won victory for Benn that turned tragic for both men. McClellan was bleeding inside his brain, and collapsed in his corner after being counted out. Emergency surgery removed a blood clot from his brain, and the resulting brain damage cost McClellan most of his sight and hearing, as well as his ability to walk. For his part, the beating he sustained and the psychological trauma of almost killing Gerald McClellan in the ring left Nigel Benn a shell of a fighter. Although he was only 31, the bout with McClellan was to be his last great effort.
The Final Years
The McClellan tragedy was followed by a pair of 1995 defenses, including a knockout of Italian contender Vincenzo Nardiello. During this period, Benn was angling for a superfight with American prodigy Roy Jones, Jr. Benn offered Jones everything in an effort to force Jones to face him, including fighting in Jones’s hometown and giving the entire purse to Jones if that is what it took. Of course, Benn still looked dangerous in 1995, and in a pattern that would define his entire career, Jones declined.
In March 1996, Nigel Benn fought a rematch with “Sugarboy” Malinga in Newcastle. Benn showed some of his old stuff, knocking Malinga down in the 5th. However, for the most part the story of the fight is Malinga landing jab after jab, busting Benn’s face up in the process. Dropping a Split Decision (the fight was, in reality, a clean loss for Benn), Benn announced his retirement in the ring after the fight.
That retirement did not last even a month. By July 1996, Benn was back and challenging the man who beat his arch-rival Eubank, the new WBO Super Middleweight Champion Steve Collins of Ireland. Both bouts promised to be action-packed thrillers, but neither delivered. In the first bout, Benn twisted his ankle and, as he could not continue, lost by TKO in the 4th. In the second bout, Benn realized just how spent he really was, and he quit on his stool before the 6th. He was the Dark Destroyer no more.
Retirement and Legacy
Nigel Benn was briefly a DJ after boxing, but today he is a born-again Christian and minister. He published an autobiography in 2001, and lives with his family on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
Benn was one of the defining figures of what was arguably the most exciting period in British boxing. His best reign as world champion was undoubtedly his second as WBC Super Middleweight champ, which lasted for 3 1/2 years and encompassed nine defenses. His record stands at 48-5-1 with 35 KOs.
Sources: timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article522640.ece; thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/boxing/article1284255.ece; boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=000739&cat;=boxer; Dark Trade; live fight footage; old fight footage on YouTube
