By Daniel Ciminera: 42/5/1 (KO 35). There is no “0” in this record, but, who would dare look back at this man’s career with anything other than admiration and respect? The man is Nigel Benn. The legend was “The Dark Destroyer”.

Nigel Benn was born in Ilford, Essex in 1964 and was one of seven sons. Growing up poor among six brothers, five of whom were older, it is no wonder Benn turned out to be one of the toughest boxers of our generation or any other.

In 1981, at the age of 17 Benn joined the army and served in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers with whom he completed two tours of Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles, speaking of which, Benn told the Guardian in 2005, “once you’ve been in a situation like that, you’re scared of nobody.” He certainly proved this mentality to be true throughout his career. It was in the army that Benn first put his animal aggression to use in the ring. He learned his trade and had a brilliant amateur career, winning 41 and losing just 1. Winning the ABA Middleweight Championship in 1986 before turning professional.

Benn made his professional debut in 1987 against Graeme Ahmed who was coming off the back of five consecutive defeats. Unsurprisingly then, Benn made a winning start getting a knock out less than two minutes into the second round after decking Ahmed twice. Benn went on to fight a further eleven times in 1987, only three times going past the first round to earn himself the title of “Young Boxer of the Year 1987”.

The following year, Benn fought eight times, winning his first title, the vacant Commonwealth Middleweight title, against Abdul Sanda in April ’88. Winning by second round knock out. Two fights later, Benn fought Anthony Logan in his first defence of the Commonwealth title. This was the first fight where Benn had been under any real pressure, downed in the first round and according to statistics, subjected to a twenty-two punch burst in the second round without reply before Benn mustered an almighty left hook to end the fight in the second to retain the title.

Again, Benn was bestowed with honours, being named The Ring Magazine’s “hottest prospect in world boxing” and the following year in ’89, promoter Bob Arum described Benn as “the most exciting fighter in the world”, all at a time when Mike Tyson was conquering the world in the heavyweight division. The praise was not unfounded either, before facing Michael Watson in May ’89, Benn had won his first twenty-two fights by knock out, having only gone past the second round three times. In his bout with Watson, the outcome was probably testament to the type of fighter Benn was in that he was so aggressive and at this stage, if he was going to be beaten, it was going to have to be by stoppage and that is what happened, Watson scoring the TKO in the sixth round.

The defeat to Watson blatantly had an affect on Benn as he took five months off, which for him, at this stage, was a long break. As further evidence of the knock to his confidence, upon his return, Benn fought a nobody in Jorge Amparo who at the time had a record of 7/9/1. After having never been the distance before, was somehow taken the full ten rounds by Amparo, though it must be said, of his fifteen career losses, Amparo was only stopped twice. Benn then went on to finish up the year with a first round knock out win over Jose Quinones.

In 1990, Benn got back on track and in April, fought Doug DeWitt in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the World Boxing Organisation Middleweight title. Benn was at his ferocious best and won by stoppage in the eighth round. Benn, after retiring, said “My number one fight was winning the WBO world middleweight title in Atlantic City…..No-one had given me a hope”, something that would become a recurring theme in his career. His first defence was versus Iran Barkley four months later in Las Vegas, Nevada, which he won with an incredible first round stoppage, putting Barkely on the canvas three times. The world was once again giving Benn the respect he deserved.

With a world title around his waist, the unbeaten Chris Eubank stepped up to the plate. The two men immediately seemed to hate one another, with Benn proclaiming that if Eubank beat him, he would retire. Since retiring, Benn has said that the rivalry between the two will be taken to the grave and that it had given them both extra incentive to out-do each other.

The two did not back down from their words when they entered the ring. From the very first bell it was obvious that the universal opinion that this bout would not go the distance could not be truer. Both fighters landed big shots almost at will in the opening round with Eubank winning the round as his punches seemed to have the greater effect. In the second and third rounds, there was no let up in pace or determination to end the fight with every shot from either fighter. Both hurting one another in each round. The fourth round saw Benn land some huge body shots and had Eubank badly hurt but, his own eye was swelling at an alarming rate. Perhaps due to the eye, Benn was not able to take advantage in the fifth round and both seemed to ease off the gas considerably and take a breather during this round and the sixth. In round seven, Eubank started to have success again with the straight right due to Benn’s lack of vision from the left eye and by the end of the round, the eye was completely shut. Not to be out-done, Benn came back in the eighth and knocked Eubank down with more of a glancing blow more to the back of the head, or at least that is what Eubank protested anyway.

Benn seemed to be taking control of the fight. Benn, looking for the knock out, got stung in the ninth and was badly hurt with another superb right hand and went into survival mode throwing wild punches while staggering like a drunk before Eubank piled on the pressure once more and the referee Richard Steele stepped in to end proceedings. This fight showcased everything that was good and bad about Benn. His power punching, superb conditioning, tireless work rate, and tremendous fighting spirit were all there for all to see. However, it was glaringly obvious that Benn was no artist and that he was easy to hit. On the back foot he was pretty weak, needing to be coming forward or have his feet firmly planted to be able to get his ferocious shots off effectively.

Benn would only have one more fight at middleweight before moving up to super-middleweight and continuing to show why he was so feared in boxing. Not two years after losing his war with Eubank, Benn had beaten future opponent Thulani “Sugaboy” Malinga and was a world champion again in a higher weight division after travelling to Italy and defeating Mauro Galvano, which was at that time, and still today, a very difficult task. Benn then beat Welshman Nicky Piper in eleven rounds (my dad had also beaten Piper as an amateur), before winning by unanimous decision in a rematch with Galvano and stopped Lou Gent after dropping him five times.

Then came the rematch the world had been waiting for. Nigel Benn putting his WBC super-middleweight title on the line against Chris Eubank, the WBO super-middleweight title holder. The two still had a deep hatred for each other and this fight captured the public even more than the first one had. 42,000 fans filled Manchester’s Old Trafford football ground and a reported 18 million TV viewers tuned in. Once again, the build up was justified and the two did not disappoint. Eubank now with a record of 35/0/1 was much more experienced, and showed signs of massive improvement. Benn was still the same fighter, never pausing for a second, always weaving looking for the gap to smash in a big hook or uppercut, though I believe he felt far more confident carrying the extra weight too as Eubank’s shots seemed to carry much less effect this time out, despite being hit much harder.

It would also be fair to say that Eubank carried the extra weight well too, he looked the bigger man and never looked better than he did in this fight in my opinion, in terms of conditioning and the skills he displayed and the savvy with which he employed them. All the more testament then to Benn’s heart and determination as a warrior of the ring that he managed to stay the full twelve rounds this time. The judges called the fight an even draw, however, in many people’s eyes, including my own, Benn did not just stay the twelve rounds, he won the fight. Even when factoring in the deducted point for the low blows.

After the draw with Eubank, Benn went on and won points decisions against Henry Wharton and Juan Ferreyra before his fateful bout with Gerald McClellan in Feb ’95. The bout began pretty much as McClellan had predicted, he battered Benn for the three minutes and even knocked him out of the ring early in the round. He did not however, get the first round knock out he had come for. In the second round, Benn came out swinging, dealing McClellan several punishing hooks to the head and winning the round comfortably.

Thereafter there were many flashpoints but overall the momentum was see-sawing, with neither man able to establish himself for more than a round, though around the fifth round, McClellan started to lose the ability to keep his mouth-guard in and could frequently be seen using Benn’s back to push it back into his mouth whilst clinching. He also appeared to be blinking very frequently which caused some of the commentary team concern, however, Barry McGuigan was adamant that McClellan’s eyes and head appeared clear to him. Perhaps he was looking at Frank Bruno at ringside. Despite the obvious discomfort, McClellan fought on like a true warrior and even managed to score another knock down in the eighth round. Benn, the man he was, would not stay down and fought on just as valiantly. Both then, were fighting on pure instinct. In the ninth round Benn looked refreshed and began to make real headway as McClellan began to look hollow. The tenth round arrived and Benn, determined to finish McClellan off landed harder and harder hooks and uppercuts cleanly until McClellan took a knee for the mandatory eight-count. When he rose, Benn bludgeoned him back to his knees again, McClellan opting to take the ten.

McClellan lost consciousness in his corner soon after he sat down before being rushed to hospital to undergo emergency brain surgery to remove a blood clot and spent eleven days in a coma. When he came round, he had lost his eyesight, the ability to walk unassisted and was almost totally deaf. Benn definitely ended McClellan’s career that night but, arguably McClellan ended Benn’s too.

Ben won his next two fights by knock out, before he lost to “Sugaboy” Malinga by split decision, although was soundly beaten this time out. Though whether it was through cumulative damage taken by his lack of defence and “gun-ho!” style of fighting, accented by the punishment he received that evening against McClellan, or perhaps it was his conscience for the damage he’d done on the same evening, one thing is for sure, Benn was never the same fighter again. I remember as a ten year old boy watching the two fights against Steve Collins with my dad, willing Benn to recapture some of his old magic (he was a favourite of my dad’s which rubbed off on me) but, there was just nothing there. The heart of “The Dark Destroyer” was gone and when he announced his retirement in such emotional fashion I was in tears along with him.

Nigel Benn, for anyone remembering him, perhaps more so in Britain, brings up fond memories of exciting nights watching him “tear it up” with his opponents. He was most definitely not one for the purist, but was a fearsome puncher with the heart of ten lions who never failed his fans and even in defeat was able to hold his head up knowing he had given everything. His humility was another great attribute he possessed, admitting that even his great rival Chris Eubank was simply better than him on the night.