By Euan Gilchrist: One of my earliest memories of Boxing came on Saturday night 25th of February 1995. The whole of the UK (or at least the 7 or 8 people around the TV in my house) held its breath as the Sound of Big Ben Chimed and Nigel Benn made his way to the ring to fight Gerald McClellan. The press had made it clear this was a big ask, the commentators were writing his obituary as he walked to the ring and you could feel the tension of the fans in the arena through the TV screen.
What unfolded was one of the most brutally entertaining fights that I have ever seen. The aftermath was tragic but the fact remains that Benn upset the odds. Benn to me will always be defined by his rivalry with Chris Eubank but when I look back on his career this in my opinion was his greatest fight.
Fast forward to March 4th 2006 – Jeff ‘Left Hook’ Lacy was the guy that was going to come over to the UK and rip the title away from the stay at home and overrated champion Joe Calzaghe. Much like in the case of Nigel Benn the world media had Calzaghe beat before the first bell sounded but this time I didn’t agree with them. I knew Lacy would move four times and throw one punch whereas Calzaghe would throw four punches and move one time, Lacy was made for him. What unfolded was one of the most one sided sustained beatings that I have ever seen. This was Calzaghe defining moment and from this moment on he was given the recognition he deserved.
Now on March the 1st Ricky Burns coming of the back of a two hard fights is being written off as fodder to the latest US pretender Terrence Crawford. Nobody is giving the two weight world champion with 9 straight defences a chance against 21-0 Crawford but if I was a betting man I would be putting my money on Burns. Why? Terrence Crawford did not own a passport before he took this fight. That’s a fact. He is going to have to deal with many things that are going to be alien to him, he’s going to be greeted by a hostile crowd the likes of which he will never have heard or seen before. Can he deal with that? It remains to be seen.
I also believe Crawford won’t have the power to stop Burns and Burns isn’t going to be the type of fighter that is going to be disheartened by having his ears boxed off in the early rounds. For example let’s look at Burns V’s Jose Gonzalez Gonzalez claims a broken hand, I personally think Ricky Burns broke his heart after taking everything that Gonzalez had to offer and still not giving in. The Puerto Rican went back to his corner and claimed a broken hand, with 3 rounds to go and a huge points lead in a world title fight not many fighters wouldn’t suck it up and box on.
Even one handed he would’ve won if he survived but he quit on his stool as he knew he had hit Burns with everything he had and Burns was still fighting. I see the same similar scenario unfolding with Crawford. In the championship rounds I believe Crawford will have a wide points lead but as fatigue sets in and Burns with his fantastic engine is still putting in a high work rate and with the Glasgow crowd roaring him on we will learn a lot about Crawford. If he can deal with it fair play to him he’s the real deal. If not he’s just another American pretender that we’ve seen the likes of dealt with in the UK many times before.
Comments are closed.