Nigel Benn faced a selection of elite middle and super-middleweights throughout his career, but only one man is considered the best he ever shared a ring with.
‘The Dark Destroyer’ suffered his first professional defeat at the hands of Michael Watson, a skilful technician, who ultimately stopped him in the sixth round in 1989.
After that, Benn was able to repair his formidable reputation and swiftly claimed the WBO world middleweight title against Doug DeWitt, before defending it with a first-round finish over Iran Barkley in 1990.
It was then in his following outing that the Ilford man encountered Chris Eubank Sr, his fierce domestic rival, and found himself on the receiving end of a ninth-round finish.
The pair then collided for a second time just under three years later, this time at 168lbs, where Benn felt aggrieved to have come away with a highly contentious draw.
At the end of his career, Benn suffered two further defeats to Steve Collins, another middle and super-middleweight great, but it was Gerald McClellan, who he beat in 1995, that immediately became his best-ever opponent.
Heading into their contest following three consecutive first-round finishes, all at world championship level, McClellan had certainly established himself as a monstrous puncher.
But while their fight delivered a truly thrilling spectacle, where Benn emerged with a 10th-round stoppage victory, McClellan was ultimately left with a life-altering blood clot to the brain and is now suffering from permanent damage.
In an interview with Ring Magazine, though, Benn insists that McClellan’s ferocious power puts the American above any other opponent he locked horns with.
“Gerald McClellan [was the best] by far. He had an incredible knockout ratio and he was a prolific puncher. There was a mile between him and anyone else.
“I came out of that fight with a damaged nose, a damaged jaw and I was urinating blood. I was in bed for three days afterwards and I had a shadow on my brain. That shows you how powerful a champion that man was.”
