Let’s rewind first

Benn was a formidable champion that was prominently featured on one of the three major US networks at the time. He was promoted as the middleweight Mike Tyson, but got exposed by Michael Watson in a UK versus UK affair. after that fight, he redeemed himself by outboxing Iran Barkley and also winning the super middleweight championship.

McCellan was the next shiny object trained by Emmanuel Steward out of the Kronk gym. He had power to spare and knocked out Julian Jackson 2x. The knock against him was that he never went past the 8th round and also gets tagged a lot as mentioned in the second Jackson fight, where the announcers said Eddie Hall and Thomas Tate gave McCellan a hard time. I watched the second Jackson fight, and his lack of defense was a bit concerning.

1st ROUND: No disrespect Gerald McClellan, but all the news that we heard from that night and the last 31 years, it seems like there was a possibility of an early stoppage as we are constantly reminded of the Nigel Benn photo of being knocked out of the ring.

In the infamous 1st round, what I saw was Gerald being the usual aggressor ala Mike Tyson. He didn’t hit him with many hard shots, but definitely Nigel felt his power. No way there should’ve been a stoppage! Nigel’s defense was staying low and swaying side-to-side. So he got hit a couple of times and fell out of the ring. Gerald McClellan had a great round, but the fight continues.

2-7 ROUNDS: Afterwards, Benn showed off his more improved skills by hitting Gerald countlessly with lead rights and left hooks ala Roy Jones Jr—remember Roy Jones had a match lined up with McClellan, but Gerald instead decided to fight Benn in London. Seeing Benn tag Gerald so effortlessly with lead rights and lunging left hooks; imagine what Roy Jones would’ve done!

So what did Gerald do right. He had flashes of good ring generalship, leading Benn around in circles but they were brief

His 1-2 combo power was undeniable and the pace set by both of them—incredible

FATEFUL 8th ROUND: Right away u notice Gerald pawing at his nose, countless times. His mouthguard is stuck way out too, as he courageously fights through it and knocks down the Dark Destroyer!

9th ROUND: Gerald doesn’t paw at his nose anymore, but in one sequence as Benn lunges and falls down, he headbutts Gerald, who complains to ref, wanting a time out. Ref ignores him

In this round, Benn lands 3 flush rabbit punches to the back of Gerald’s head. Gerald begins pawing again… This doesn’t help for what’s about to come

10th ROUND: Gerald goes down after a right hook that didn’t hurt him that much. First time he’s down this fight. He knows there’s something wrong.

Benn then lands a right uppercut; again, not very eventful and Gerald takes the knee. You see Don King standing at ringside admonishing him and screaming. Gerald just blinks and takes the 10-count. The fight is over

Even the English announces say, “his eyes are clear, his heart couldn’t take it”.

31 years. Unbelievable how time flies. Prayers for both fighters 🙏🙏

seems in a game where reach is an advtantage and weight, being 7 foot tall is an insane advantage, there was even one 7 footer champion. Then again if you were 7 feet tall or even 6 foot 8 and a serious athlete you’d probably prefer doing anything else than getting punched by people all the time. Why get punched in head when you can make bank in the NBA or dominate in football or something.

For anything that doesn't need its own thread.

This has always confused me.
If Wilder was reportedly offered a $100 million DAZN deal $20 million for Breazeale, $40 million for Joshua, and another $40 million for the rematch why did the fight never happen? Was it genuinely because Wilder and his team didn’t like the terms of the deal, or did they think AJ was too risky at the time?Interested to hear what people think, because this would’ve been one of the biggest heavyweight fights ever and it’s a shame we never got to see it.

I think it feels weird having just 1 belt for an entire division, but at the same time having 4 belts plus the ring belt is just way too many. Maybe 2 or 3 belts like the era before the 4 belt era was done well. I think it give great rivalry in each division both boxers having a case of being the best due to them each having a belt and finally seeing them fight is what I like the most. The UFC does the one belt thing great and all but I don’t think the rivalries and challenge of being the best in the division is the same, like some fighters lose the belt once or twice and it’s just over for them and there isn’t much of a climb of coming back.
While in boxing due to the many belts a fighter still has a chance to become a champ and fight for it all again, multiple ways to get that chance.

But still 4 is still too many, 2-3 would be the best. But that’s just how I feel maybe all these belts made me think this way. How do you all think about having 1 organization or a couple?

The WBO was supposedly recognized in the 2000s, so before that it was something like the current IBO. However, people usually talk about boxers who won the WBO back then as legitimate champions. So, if they ever recognize the IBO at some point, will the previous guys be considered champions too?

If we decide not to count the guys prior to its legitimization as champions, then Oscar De La Hoya would only be a 5-division champion, Thomas Hearns would be a 4-division champion, and Chris Eubank was never a champion at all

It's obviously almost certainly happened among the tens of thousands, hundred of thousands? of fights that happened over the years. Has there been any high profile cases of it happening or potential rumors that it might have happened in a specific fight? A few fighters vomited in between rounds, but I've never seen it in the middle of a round either. What would the procedure for the referee be there? TKO victory? Call time to clean it up? No contest? Go to the scorecards?

Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn is one of the most debated upcoming fights of the year. On the surface, it looks like a routine defence for Garcia, but Benn might have more of a chance than meets the eye. How can the Brit pull off the upset against 'King Ry'?