McClellan wasn't special. he was huge for the weight and could hit hard, but wasn't special skillwise or talentwise. Julian Jackson is a natural light middleweight, he was much smaller than McClellan.
second_to_NONE! He actually was very skillful! And had much talent! He could fight lateral, coming forward, going backwards, speed, combos etc...he just had not so good defense....he wasn’t that much bigger than Julian at all; both guys walking around between 175-180lbs...it’s just Julian had more dense muscle while Gerald was more slim...Julian already had a full career while Gerald was only still at the beginning of his when he suffered the stroke, so we never got to see his full potential...he was winning the Benn fight until the stroke happened in a bigger weight division against a guy who knocked 90% of his opponents out and was already deep in his career...he would have certainly been another Mike Tyson quality fighter if he had more years into his career...he was certainly star quality
@@zayatkinson7253 muscle doesn't matter that much. this isn't a bodybuilding contest. the point is that McClellan had a taller, thicker and wider frame than Jackson. functional strength in boxing largely depends on frame, if someone has a wide frame with thicker bones he will be always stronger than the small framed muscly guy. so yes, McClellan was definitely naturally stronger than Jackson, and he wasn't winning the fight against Benn. he won 3 rounds, with two being 10-8 rounds. keep in mind that Benn wasn't a really skilled fighter either, he got by having sheer ferocity and will.
On a different note now sadly relevant, notice Mills Kane go to Jackson’s corner and kneel in front of a sitting Jackson, put his hands on his shoulders, and console him with kind words. What humanity , what a class act the great Mills Lane was. RIP sir 😔
@@christiandesouza1750 He had excellent all round boxing, but fell i n love with his deviststing power and granite chin. Kronk fighters are sound boxers. Gerald was the best that ever came through there
Hearns was the best to come through Kronk but I respect your opinion.I think any defects Kronk fighters had back then Manny put right in the end and he became the best Trainer/Manager out there.R.I.P!
It's crazy to think that the 80s and 90s had a ton of great boxers from the 154 lbs. to the 168 lbs. divisions: Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, Duran, Benitez, Mugabi, Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, Michael Nunn, Sumbu Kalambay, Terry Norris, Julian Jackson, Gerald McClellan, Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, and Calzaghe just to name a few.
@@martytdd1606 i heard they split over money Gerald thought Manny wasn't dedicating enough time to train him and was asking for a lot cash have you watched the documentary about this fight? if not you should watch it all questions are answered over there you can find it on youtube its called the fight of their lives
@@mr.t658 Yeah bud, Iv'e watched this documentary a lot actually, but because of editing and such I thought may be the film makers left out the part where Gerald's headache was focused on. It was never mentioned, may be it Benn's assault alone that night that did it. Thats the question that I'vs been asking since then.
@@marcoslaureano5562Mike McClallum is the most underrated fighter in the history of fighters. It's a shame he didn't get any of the Fab Four, but nonetheless he had an illustrious career, and thrived in the most competitive Middleweight division in the history of the sport.
Jackson didn’t have the strongest chin lol we have to be real here all his losses are KO but still was an incredible fighter regardless McClellan genuinely had a granite chin as he has never been dropped rocked stunned nothing only had to quit due to a brain injury
Further to my earlier comment, the more I watch this, the more impressed I am by McClellan....he knocked out the feared Julian Jackson when he was obviously already a very ,very sick man. Notice how he is desperately trying to get his gumshield out all through the fight.
@@TigrayBoxing In the build up to this fight, Gerald was already displaying worrying signs; backing off from sparring partners without explanation, etc. Also , many in his training camp had noticed strange behaviour; constantly sticking out the gumshield, and the heavy, hard blinking. At the end of this fight, Gerald says " I`ve got a terrible headache...…" fighters are used to the headaches resulting from sparring and the fights , so when a top level fighter complains about one , it has to be very , very bad.
@@stuartevans1188 Yes I have always followed Gerald`s career and there was always stories about this fight in particular. He was injured in this fight and somehow his injury would go unnoticed until all hell broke loose during the Benn fight. The 50 plus rabbit punches on Gerald`s head did not help the cause.
He was complaining about head aches even back then but king persuaded him that it was nothing to worry about and that it wasn't related to the boxing. .. ( what a total scumbag, he'd sell his own granny for a couple of hundred dollars )
What Don King did at the Benn fight was beyond disgusting. He walked in with Gerald and would walk out with Nigel Benn. Don`t think I ever heard of a boxer say good positive things about Don King.
@@keithclark7266, yes I did. And it was an all time great round. But, as I said, Jackson and G-Man are on another level when it comes to punching power in MW division.
2 of the 5 HARDEST PUNCHERS IN BOXING HISTORY(P4P) and it looks like about 65% of the seats are empty. Fucking rediculus!!! If this fight was a present day fight it would sell 4 milion PPV buys. 👊
Actually it was for the WBC middleweight title. You need to set a baseline to see who can hit harder not put one against each other, because it would actually be who has the better chin.
@@wrestler-kickboxer2524 Yes and no, because when it comes to two power punchers, it really comes down who can take the punch. Because one way or another, both are going to get hit.
@@HulkVahkiin you are right the chin does play major factor but never rule out power..some have it and some don't but these two legends definitely we're the hardest hitting middleweights the world has ever seen
It’s sweat dripping in his eyes. It happens after any intense exercise and it burns, he can’t use his hands to rub his face so he blinks hard continuously
Based on everything I've heard its clear that Mclellan suffered a catastrophic head injury in this fight that set the stage for his brain bleed vs Nigel Benn. This is the exact same type of rapid blinking that occurred when Mclellan to0k a knee to end that fight. He experienced headaches on and off after this bout, the rematch and in training for Benn that were completely ignored.
He taped the mouth of a Labrador and set his fighting dogs on it. They ripped that poor dog to pieces. It died without any chance of defending itself. That C**t McClellan deserves to rot in hell for what he did. Zero sympathy from me. Well done Nigel Benn, a true warrior 👍
@@sameerberia7211 It's a sign of what? Sucking in more air when they're tired. Some fighters even purposely spit theirs out to steal a rest. Why can't you strange beings just accept that Jackson wasn't powerful enough to be a proper middleweight at that time. Benn and G-Man were next level up. It's called 'Super Middleweight' Benn got the Better of it on the night at 168.🤷♂️
Maybe that was just a habit of his. We have no idea of knowing if that was linked to any brain damage. It's very speculative. Not saying it WASNT related, but it's impossible to know for sure.
This is probably 40% of the Damage that would be MClellan's end with Nigel Benn. He doing the weird blinking and nose rubbing here too. Man that Julian Jackson was a real banger and this is a REAL contest. Dayum. I didn't even know this fight took place. So sitting here on a Sunday afternoon with mouth agape watching this blockbuster.
17:56 this victory solidified Gman in the sport of boxing , it is such a huge win to beat a KO artist like the hawk , forever respect to gman for this fight
After this fight GMan started complaining of unusually stronger headaches. His sparring partner thought Julian Jackson gave him GMan several concussions in 1993. it would make so much sense in explaining how Gerald Mcclellan suffered the tragedy against Benn. This was a part if it
@@anz2441 "Certainly", meaning you didn't like him getting rabbit punched and want to make it a great crime. Benn rabbit punched a bit when opponents grabbed on, yes, but McClellan was no angel inside the ring either (and frankly evil outside of it if the dog torturing stories are true).
Jackson just hits so damn hard. Even when hes not able to knock someone out and lands on the foreheas or body you can see the effect. I never saw mclellan react the way he does to jacksons punches. Jacksons not really a knockout artist, he doesn’t set guys up so masterfully like a Duran or Toney, but in terms kf raw power its brutal. Hes got a chance against anyone, especially at 154.
I noticed the first thing Gerald did when the Ref waved the fight over: He grabbed his gumshield and threw it to the floor, almost with contempt. He couldn`t wait to be rid of that mouthguard. Definitely early signs of the troubles that lay ahead.
You can see Gerald blinking very oddly straight after the fight between 19:20 - 19:30, you can tell he's in distress. I think he suffered a serious head injury in this fight that didn't become fully apparent until the Benn fight. Obviously no-one picked up on this at the time as the signs and symptoms were very subtle.
In fact waffle I think he starts doing it - and pushing the mouth guard out - during the fight. I think the injury must have happened in the first few rounds. Maybe it was a vulnerability which was already there, either the legacy of a previous head trauma or something he'd had since birth, but in any case it begins during the fight.
From 1988 to 1993 the Middleweight division was the strongest in the history of Middleweight boxing. You had people fighters like: G-Man McClellan, Michael Watson, James Toney, Nigel Benn, Roy Jones Jr., Mike McCallum, Chris Eubank, Bernard Hopkins, Steve Collins, Sumbu Kalambay, Iran Barkley, Herol Graham, Lamar Parks, Reggie Johnson and Julian Jackson.
I was about 12 rows from ringside when he fought Benn, and team McClellan were so over confident it was unreal. In the week before the fight Gerald seemed to be more focused on buying dogs than he was on the fight.
I find it hard to pity a man who himself had not a shred of pity for the defenceless rescue dogs he threw in for his fighting pitbulls to tear to shreds. That’s the truth of maclennan.
Seemed that unintentional low blow inticed Gerald to end things earlier than what he had planned. Good fight by both men but Julian didn't have a chance in the rematch!
The area is filled like this is an undercard fight Solid fight but it looks like this because these are two B level fighters with power slugging it out They wouldnt last vs the current elite
I have no doubts: Mcclellan was already blinking bad and cleaning (nothing) from outside his head in this fight almost since the start. Something was wrong inside his head and his facial expressions as he getting hit says it all. Those same expressions that something was bothering him just as he did in his last fight, only worse that night. When Fredy Pacheco says "he looks kinda confused after getting hit by a big punch from Ben", it really did look like it.. lots of times. Those are not expressions of getting hurt with the punching power, but from getting extremely uncomfurtable with something happening inside him. I might be wrong but I smell something was covered up and that kid should've stop fighting long before his last one.
@@sickathanyouraverage4404 Yes, but for this fight he was still a kronk fighter and had a great team. McClellan was a tremendous talent but a nasty guy, he got angry with Manny Stewart paying too much attention to Tommy Hearns on a comeback and left, maybe McClellan was right but he was a brash young guy (part of why he was a good fighter) he wanted to be boss in the corner so he hired weak willed men instead of proper coaches. Can't put an old head on young shoulders I guess and then fought Nigel Benn. I was sure McClellan would beat him. Most atmospheric fight I have ever seen, when Benn entered the ring to the chimes of Big Ben as ring walk music. Such a shame what happened.
Back then, it was so normal for top fighters to fight one another that fights like this barely got attention. If Julian and Gerald were fighting in this generation, I doubt this fight would have ever happen.
@@StuartTheunissen The body reaches its physical prime at 30 on average, which would definitely of helped McClellans explosive power, but you are right, its all speculation.
There is something really satisfying about watching a fighter who tries to make his shit count rather than tryna mallinaggi his way around the ballet studio
I remember watching those stacked undercard fights Don King had the boxing scene on lock man I remember watching these two fighting twice epic I was like 12 or 13 years old man classic
I don't know... I mean I think he might have problems with his head allready, but the blinking isn't what you look for to indicate that as that could be other things - With a lot of sweaty gloves flying in your face, some flies in your eyes easily all the time. I notice fighters with or without head injuries often blink a lot between rounds and after fights, I think because of this.
@@6412mars Yeah, true when I watch the way he blinks in this fight it seems something is causing him discomfort that he's not letting on. We know what happened so it's easy to understand afterwards I think. But I don't know if you can deduce on the spot exactly why someone would blink like that other than to they try to cope with a general pain, maybe a headache, which wouldn't be crazy to experience during a fight.
Amazing quality video.....thank you so much, I love this fight, Julian Jackson was a monster, but gerald McClellan was the bigger fighter...Gerald McClellan much respect to you sir....a true warrior.....I think Julian was the one who started the injuries.....p×p the hardest punching I have ever seen....
I really think Gerald McClellan's had health issues before the Benn fight. If you watch him during this fight, he was constantly struggling with his mouthpiece and had excessive blinking.
I keep seeing these sort of comments. I guess there might have been damage caused before the Benn fight that never truly healed, maybe, making the blood clot more likely. However, the blinking in the benn fight was due to a blood clot. And that's the thing, if the blood clot happened beforehand, he wouldn't have even made it to the Benn fight. And so I am not really sure what people think they are seeing.
leadbelly123 bloodclots can be there for years getting worse and then can randomly rupture. By all accounts McClellan was showing signs as far back as the Late eighties
@Koraun The one on youtube Gerald was beating toney in a sparring match. In fact, there have been accounts of Gerald knocking out Toney in a sparring match. Gerald probably overtrained. One thing for sure, he rarely played defense in his fights....
The usual BS of Americans refusing to believe facts. McClellan had no health issues before the Benn fight. Benn was just too much for him and that's the facts.
Biggest advantage McClellan had was he was the naturally bigger fighter. I think several of the blows landed by Jackson would have ko’d or at least seriously disoriented most junior middleweights. But McClellan was a borderline light heavyweight and Jackson was a natural 154 pounder most of his career to that point.
I noticed was gasping for air and puffing his gum shield out like when he fought Ben..So sad what happened that night 😢..May I say though the picture is outstanding considering how long ago the fight was..👍
