I've thought hard about answering this thread and for several reasons.
Firstly (and obviously) because of McClellan's tragic circumstances and secondly because I watched the fight with some rugby mates and over several beers we were all screaming for Benn to destroy the G-Man.
The horrific ending left me falling out of love with boxing for a few years and wondering whether this was a sport that I could follow. When you're yelling blue murder at a TV screen for one fighter to beat another and the result is far worse than that; it can (and should be) be sobering.
And as Benn very pointedly said - You know what? This is what you all wanted to see. And you got what you wanted to see!
On reflection - and having watched the fight again and done some reading - I think several things went badly wrong for the G-Man both before and during that night.
There remains a strong and abiding su****ion amongst knowledgable commentators that he got his weight-making completely and dangerously wrong. Both Steve Bunce and Kevin Mitchell have hinted at this.
The G-Man was supposedly moving up in weight to challenge Nigel at SMW but there's still the suggestion that he drained himself to make the limit because the fight came up at relatively short notice and his walk-around weight was far, far higher.
Manny Steward is supposed to have said that Gerald 'dived at the weight' rushing his preparations and coming to the ring weakened. He actually came in 2lbs under the weight - possibly because he did some crazy things to shed weight quickly - and I certainly remember him looking gaunt and uncomfortable in the press photos.
The weight issue does matter in this fight; I think McClellan had to rush to get him down to SMW and make some dangerous sacrifiices and that Benn (who was badly underestimated) was fighting at his optimum weight.
As for the fight itself; I still contend that Benn came back into things far earlier and harder than many people realise (hitting viciously hard and cleanly as well) and that Gerald looked 'gassed' from the fifth round onwards.
A vicious circle quickly begins to evolve with Gerald short on energy, but a mile ahead on points and knowing he has the power to drop Benn 'sticking-in there' and looking for one more clean, game-ending shot. Meanwhile, Benn is unloading more and more combinations as he drags himself back into the fight.
Suddenly, you've got a half-exhausted, big-puncher looking for just one more shot getting repeatedly hit and beaten-up by a threshing machine like Benn. And the result is inevitable.
Kevin Mitchell's truly excellent book 'War Baby' is still the definitive account of this fight but be warned; it can and will make you review your love of boxing's biggest wars and warriors.
Firstly (and obviously) because of McClellan's tragic circumstances and secondly because I watched the fight with some rugby mates and over several beers we were all screaming for Benn to destroy the G-Man.
The horrific ending left me falling out of love with boxing for a few years and wondering whether this was a sport that I could follow. When you're yelling blue murder at a TV screen for one fighter to beat another and the result is far worse than that; it can (and should be) be sobering.
And as Benn very pointedly said - You know what? This is what you all wanted to see. And you got what you wanted to see!
On reflection - and having watched the fight again and done some reading - I think several things went badly wrong for the G-Man both before and during that night.
There remains a strong and abiding su****ion amongst knowledgable commentators that he got his weight-making completely and dangerously wrong. Both Steve Bunce and Kevin Mitchell have hinted at this.
The G-Man was supposedly moving up in weight to challenge Nigel at SMW but there's still the suggestion that he drained himself to make the limit because the fight came up at relatively short notice and his walk-around weight was far, far higher.
Manny Steward is supposed to have said that Gerald 'dived at the weight' rushing his preparations and coming to the ring weakened. He actually came in 2lbs under the weight - possibly because he did some crazy things to shed weight quickly - and I certainly remember him looking gaunt and uncomfortable in the press photos.
The weight issue does matter in this fight; I think McClellan had to rush to get him down to SMW and make some dangerous sacrifiices and that Benn (who was badly underestimated) was fighting at his optimum weight.
As for the fight itself; I still contend that Benn came back into things far earlier and harder than many people realise (hitting viciously hard and cleanly as well) and that Gerald looked 'gassed' from the fifth round onwards.
A vicious circle quickly begins to evolve with Gerald short on energy, but a mile ahead on points and knowing he has the power to drop Benn 'sticking-in there' and looking for one more clean, game-ending shot. Meanwhile, Benn is unloading more and more combinations as he drags himself back into the fight.
Suddenly, you've got a half-exhausted, big-puncher looking for just one more shot getting repeatedly hit and beaten-up by a threshing machine like Benn. And the result is inevitable.
Kevin Mitchell's truly excellent book 'War Baby' is still the definitive account of this fight but be warned; it can and will make you review your love of boxing's biggest wars and warriors.
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