THE DATE was November 18, 1990. The location was Birmingham, England. 35 years before their sons finally met in a professional ring, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank locked horns in the first of their two meetings. Another legend, BN editor Harry Mullan, was ringside that evening to capture every moment, absorbing himself in “the battle of wits and wills”. Here is what he witnessed…
ONLY Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn and their respective accountants know for sure whether that million-pound payday was tabloid hype or cash on the table, but whatever promoter Barry Hearn paid them for their epic encounter at Birmingham on Sunday, it wasn’t enough.
How do you begin to put a price on the pain, effort and commitment the pair traded for nothing more significant than the worthless piece of plastic which symbolises the WBO middleweight championship?
How much should you pay a man to bare his soul? Because that is what Benn and Eubank did, in the most thrilling contest I have ever watched in a British ring. When you consider that the list includes Howard Winstone and Barry McGuigan’s epic challenges for the world featherweight title, or Leotis Martin’s defeat of Thad Spencer in a classic heavyweight battle at the Albert Hall, that is not an accolade to be given lightly.
It might even surprise those who only watched on television because this was one of those nights when you had to BE at ringside, where you had to be close enough to see the punches go home and to absorb yourself in the battle of wits and wills.
Television neutered the event. It cut out the atmosphere which enveloped the ring, and lost the sense of vulnerability which hung over both men and persuaded you that, at any moment during the nine rounds (less four seconds) it lasted, either one could have been wiped out with a single punch.
In the end, as I predicted, it was Eubank who had the edge, and who ground down defending champion Benn to the point where Las Vegas referee Richard Steele intervened at 2-55 of the ninth of the scheduled 12 rounds.
To be brutally pedantic, Eubank and Benn have not yet even proved themselves the best middleweights in the Southern Area, never mind the world: Londoner Michael Watson has beaten Benn, and is keen to match his skills with Eubank.
But the championship belt was, in the end, an irrelevance: they were struggling for victory, pure and simple, and I don’t think I have ever seen two men with a more intense will to win. It was fuelled by a mutual antipathy that went beyond the normal bounds of pre-fight dislike that was underlined by their vastly contrasting styles and personalities.
We suspected that the outcome, would, ultimately, be determined by the unknown factors rather than either man’s established credentials, and so it proved. There were two outstanding questions: could Eubank really fight, and could Benn find again the fighting heart which deserted him so abruptly against Watson?
The answer, in each case, was an emphatic “yes”. Eubank had to push himself beyond anything he had previously experienced, to endure pain and punishment infinitely worse than his previous 24 fights had prepared him for, while Benn went out like a warrior.
He lost the fight, and his finger-hold on a world title, but he regained his pride and won the respect of all those – myself included – who had judged him too harshly on his virtual surrender to Watson. He fought on, blinded in one eye, until he had passed the point of exhaustion, and had nothing left to offer – yet he still refused to quit or go down, and was defiantly upright at the finish.
But that, sadly, is all the satisfaction he can take away from this unforgettable night. His credibility as a world-class performer is now in shreds after inside the distance defeats by Watson and Eubank – both quality fighters, but neither of whom rate highly in international terms – and while someone so exciting will never be short of offers, there is now likely to be a zero missing from the end of the cheque.
Today’s hero is tomorrow’s opponent, and while men like Thomas Hearns and Frank Bruno were manoeuvred back from a couple of demoralising defeats, I’m not sure that adviser Ambrose Mendy and his American associate Bob Arum can do the same for Benn.
There are rumours that he might challenge the IBF champion Michael Nunn, who was at ringside in the packed National Exhibition Centre, but for Benn’s sake I hope it doesn’t happen. Nunn is exactly the wrong opponent for a brawler in search of rehabilitation, and his sharp-shooting style would surely cut Benn down.
If he intends to continue – and he said, in the immediate aftermath on Sunday, that he did not – then he will have to lower his sights and rebuild his confidence against softer options than Eubank or Nunn.
Sunday’s battle was won and lost in the mind as much as the body, in the rock-hard resolve and flawless concentration which drove Eubank to victory. He has always contended that boxing is an internal exercise, and what Herol Graham calls “mind games” played a large part in his preparation and approach.
He seemed locked in some kind of yoga trance as he stood for long minutes in his corner during the preliminaries, gloves together and torso twisted in a body-builder’s pose, motionless apart from an occasional flexing of the neck. It was an extraordinary sight, and Benn must have wondered what exactly he had in front of him.
The challenger came out in a crab-like sideways scuttle at the opening bell, hoping to disconcert Benn with an unorthodox lead right, but it didn’t work and Eubank soon settled into a jab and move routine, dropping in rights occasionally and making Benn miss with his sweeping hooks.
When they clinched, Benn lifted Eubank bodily off the ground and hoisted him on his shoulder, as if to demonstrate that he had the physical power to manhandle him, but the opening round belonged to Eubank and so, too, did the interval: he strode around the ring for fully 15 seconds before trainer Ronnie Davies got him back to the corner. It was, no doubt, all part of the mind games.
Early in the second, Eubank stood stock still, waiting for Benn to lead – a ploy he was to use throughout the fight – and when Benn missed, Eubank knocked him with two downward, chopping rights.
Surprisingly, he backed off Benn, and then leaned straight into a right which caught him flush in the face. It was the first test of his chin, and he passed it unflinchingly, hitting back, effectively enough to have Benn reeling into the ropes from a left and two rights in the final moments of the round.
Given another half-minute the fight might well have ended then, but Benn – whose left eye was already reddened and starting to close up – recovered brilliantly to win the third. He ducked low to get under Eubank’s long punches, and ripped in hurtful body hooks from either hand. Eubank stung him with a right uppercut, but ended the round with blood seeping from a mark on the left cheek.
Benn kept his momentum going to take the fourth as well on my card. He was caught by a long right early in the round, but covered up so well that Eubank could not land another clean shot. A right to the head and left hook to the ribs hurt Eubank, who did not respond when Benn leaned back against the ropes and taunted him to come on.
But by now Benn’s eye was almost closed, and the handicap was severe as Eubank stayed outside in the fifth and smacked jabs into his face. His punches were very accurate and precise, and although Benn kept swaying side to side he couldn’t make him miss often.
The psychological edge was with Eubank now, and he emphasised it by shouldering Benn away almost contemptuously when Benn tried to move in from the ropes. There was blood showing on Eubank’s lower lip – we later learned that he had cut the underside of his tongue – but he held the centre of the ring and picked Benn off with jabs and right crosses before, dramatically, Benn dipped low and buried a left deep into Eubank’s groin.
He doubled over in agony, then dropped to one knee before rising, in obvious distress, while referee Steele allowed him time to recover. Benn came in blasting, but Eubank moved back smartly behind the jab and, in close quarters, trapped Benn’s gloves to stop him working.
He had not shaken off the effect in the seventh, and let Benn make the running with an often careless body attack. Eubank jabbed well, but Benn just shook his head and laughed as the punches came in. At one point he trapped Eubank’s head in an armlock with his left arm and hit him with rights, then backed off to the ropes and covered up when Eubank came in.
Another punch strayed low, and Eubank looked in appeal to the referee, usually a sign that a fighter is beginning to lose heart.
That impression was strengthened in the eighth. A clubbing right behind the ear dropped Eubank early in the round, although it seemed more that he had slipped on a patch of water. But the referee ruled it a knockdown, and the indignant challenger had to rake the mandatory eight count.
Eubank steadied him with a flurry of hooks, and then the pair went into one of their period spells of watch and wait, standing in front of each other trying to force the other into error. Benn ended the round with a solid right and a left hook.
He was closing the points gap on my scorecard, but his left eye was now completely closed and, in the ninth, Eubank took full advantage.
Long rights and jabs landed on a target, and when Benn tried to counter they went into a tangle which ended in Eubank being dumped on the floor.
And then, abruptly, it was over: two rights sent Benn wobbling unsteadily into the ropes, and Eubank poured in punches as the champion tried desperately to roll and duck out of danger. He escaped momentarily, but Eubank was on him straightaway.
He hammered him back into a neutral corner, ripping in two-handed blows until the referee jumped between them, and cradled Benn’s head as Eubank slumped to his knees in jubilation.
It was a perfectly-timed stoppage, and Benn, who lost with grace and dignity, had no complaints afterwards. But then who could complain about any aspect of this truly unforgettable encounter?
Benn scaled 11st 5 1/4lbs, Eubank 11st 5 1/2lbs. The judges, all American, were Dalby Shirley, Bob Burrow and John Stewart.
Watch Eubank Jr vs Benn on Saturday 26th April live on DAZN, the global home of boxing with over 185+ fights per year.
