Interview: Nigel Benn
By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Former world WBC super middleweight and WBO middleweight champion Nigel “ Dark Destroyer” Benn (42-5-1,35KO’s) spoke to Peter Maniatis about living in Australia and fights with world title bouts with Doug DeWitt, Iran Barkley, Gerald McClellan, and Chris Eubank also the progress of his son Conor Benn(19-0, 12 KOs), Canelo Alvarez, and promoter Eddie Hearn.
NIGEL BENN LIVING IN AUSTRALIA
“We lived in Spain for twelve years and I did not speak Spanish but my kids spoke it fluently. My wife said, “ let’s go to Australia. I said ‘Australia? Why would I go to Australia? Everything venomous lives in Australia.’
“I am not worried about the great white sharks because us black men don’t surf. I came to Australia and went to a Food Court and a Chinese man asked me did I want fried rice in English. I said thank you. Lord, I am speaking to a Chinese man in English. I felt so blessed. I just fell in love with it ( Australia).
“Then we went to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. I was on the beach and I looked left and then right and couldn’t see the end of the beach. I thought – Wow. Three days in Australia and I fell in love with Australia. I said to my son’s friend – what do I need to live in Australia?
“He went to an immigration officer and told them Nigel Benn wanted to live in Australia. The immigration officer said I know Nigel Benn. I went to his gym in Spain when I was twelve years old and he signed his autograph for me. Can you believe that? Now me and Chris Comer are such good friends.
“I lived in Los Angeles, Miami, Barbados, and Jamaica and you put them all together and they don’t measure up to Australia.
DOUG DEWITT
“Doug DeWitt was the world champion. At the press conference, he said ‘What can Nigel Benn do to me? I have been in the ring with Tommy Hearns and the best boxers in the world.’ I remember he put me down in the second round when he hit me right on the chin with a left hook that landed right on the button. It was so perfect – I didn’t feel a thing. If they hit in the temple you go dizzy but I got hit on the chin and went down and the referee was counting and I said I am okay. I remember the second round and I said ‘now it’s his time to feel the canvas.’ I remember I bashed the granny out of him. I put it on him.”
Nigel Benn TKO8 Doug DeWitt – referee Randy Neumann crowned Benn 0.44 at Caesars Hotel and Casino Atlantic City April 29, 1990. WBO middleweight title.
IRAN BARKLEY
“After Doug DeWitt, I remember we lined up Iran Barkley. I said to myself Barkley fought and knocked out Tommy Hearns twice. I was training like a trooper. I said to myself. You have done the sparring, taken my vitamins, done the running. I had done everything. So I looked at him. I won the fight at the press conference. We came out and looked at each
other and he looked away. He looked at the crowd. When he done that I said – Yes – I have got him. The first thing I did when the bell rang was a hop – skip and a jump and landed a big right hand which put him down. I wasn’t scared of him – not at all.
Nigel Benn KO 1 Iran Barkley referee Carlos Padilla crowned Benn at 2.57 at Bally’s Casino Las Vegas on August 18, 1990. WBO middleweight title
CHRIS EUBANK
“How can I knock a man who has made me very wealthy, who we got 47,000 at Old Trafford, ten and a half million watching in England and half a billion around the world watching our fight. How can you not like him?
“Personality-wise we didn’t see eye to eye. I go back to England in October and I will be doing a tour with Chris. I don’t know how we are going to get on because he still has that persona he had when he was fighting. I am still me. I don’t know how he is going to react.
Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank boxed on two occasions. The first time was on November 18, 1990, for the WBO middleweight title in Birmingham, West Midlands in the United Kingdom with referee Richard Steele crowning Eubank at 2.56 in round nine. They clashed again on October 9, 1993, for the WBO and WBC super middleweight titles in Manchester England with the result being a split twelve round draw.
GERALD McCLELLAN
“Gerald’s sister was writing a book about our fight and said they found drugs in my blood test. I raised $250,000 for her brother. (McClellan suffered severe brain injury) Don King didn’t do it. Now they are saying I took performance-enhancing drugs. I thought to myself – how could you do that? If you said it was a recreational drug like smoking – I would say ‘yeah. I done all that.’ But to say I used performance-enhancing drugs – that’s just not me. I don’t want to be known as a cheat. When I became a Christian I wanted to raise money for Gerald McClellan. Nobody else done that. That’s how they returned my kindness.
“After McClellan put me down in round one when he hit me so hard it was like being hit with a pickaxe handle. I remember looking up and thinking – I am on the floor. I came back to my corner everything changed.
“Dennie Mancini, God rest his soul, he had taken over as my trainer. He was my cut man. He said to me. Look at the state he is in. I had got bashed up that first round. But when he said that to me, something in my subconscious – I don’t know what happened – my whole mentality changed. The second round I am chasing McClellan around the ring. My mindset changed. I am chasing him.
“Even when he put me down in round eight. The next thing I hit him with right uppercut left hook. When I came out for round nine my whole attitude had changed. It was something in my subconscious – I don’t know what happened.
“I will tell you how Gerald McClellan became number one. I was meant to fight Michael Nunn. If you know Michael Nunn – he was a slippery southpaw. I thought to myself ‘I really didn’t want to fight him. He was really slippery.’ Don King said to my manager. Take $100,000 off – you’re just fighting Michael Nunn. Don King said he was going to bring in mini-Mike Tyson (McClellan). I had spent eighteen months in Northern Island and seen five of my friends blown up. So when you have been to places like Northern Island – I had no fear.
Note: Benn joined the Army at the age of 18 and was stationed in West Germany for three years, then Northern Ireland for eighteen months (Royal Fusiliers) After leaving the army Benn joined the West Ham Amateur Boxing Club.
“If they have two arms and two legs like me, if you want a fight you have got it. Everyone in the media had me being knocked out in rounds one and three. I thought is that how you are going to treat me? Do you think I will just lay down against McClellan? You think I don’t like having a war? I am going out on my shield.
“Don King promoted my fights after that. He knew I would pack my fights out. I had no problems with Don King. He said I made a believer out of him after the Gerald McLellan fight. I didn’t care if Don King made $5 million or $10 million as long as he paid me what I deserve.
Nigel Benn KO10 Gerald McClellan referee Alfred Asaro in London February 25, 1995, WBC super middleweight title.
Benn and McClellan met again for the first time since their bout at a fundraiser for McClellan held in London on February 24, 2007. Several items were auctioned off at the event and a total of £200,000 was raised.
CONOR BENN
“Conor has still so much to learn. I was really shocked in his last fight against Adrian Granados. He was a Mexican who got on his bike. Not standing there. It was a good fight and he learned from that. You’re not going to walk in there and knockout everybody. He is fighting in December and I will be there for that. We will train together. He has a lot to learn. He is 25 years old. Three more fights he could be fighting for a world title.
CANELO ALVAREZ
“I am a big fan of Canelo’s. He is my hero. For him to go up to light heavyweight and deal with those geezers. I rate him. I really rate him. He is just a great fighter. I never miss his fights.
EDDIE HEARN
“Eddie knows how to run the show now. He has taken over from his father Barry. Eddie said ‘thank you for handing the baton to me. Now watch what I can do.’ Eddie’s done an absolutely brilliant job.
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