If the Gman just quit against Benn after 9 rounds

[Emon723]

Do you wish Gerald McClellan would rather believe the saying "live today, fight tomorrow" against Nigel Benn, and pulled off what Kostya Tszyu did 10 years later vs Ricky Hatton.

We all knew the damage on the Gman's brain happened in the incident in Round 9 when Benn fell and his head hit McClellan's face, If Gerald had said to his corner he suddenly fell ill and decided not to come out in the 10th round, we'l he lived a better life today.

Yes he would lose a lot of admirers for quitting and may not even be the same after the Benn fight, but the Gman can took a layoff for a year or two to recover and comeback to fight again, who knows he might get to fight Roy Jones.

[New England]

g man's problems actually started after he fought julian jackson. he had chronic headaches after the first fight.


would the serious brain damage have been avoided?
perhaps. it's impossible to say. i have not seen that fight in five years or so. both guys took serious punishment. that's more damage than i care to see a man sustain.

[Ivansmamma]

Maybe he would be a lot better today, can't really say. Roy Jones started a trust found to help support Gerald. It's still around for thoose who want to help him out with his medical bills and other expenses.

[Bushidō]

I don't think all his issues started vs Benn. I think the Benn fight just made it worse.

G-Man had a very violent fighting style.

[Sugarj]

Do you wish Gerald McClellan would rather believe the saying "live today, fight tomorrow" against Nigel Benn, and pulled off what Kostya Tszyu did 10 years later vs Ricky Hatton.

We all knew the damage on the Gman's brain happened in the incident in Round 9 when Benn fell and his head hit McClellan's face, If Gerald had said to his corner he suddenly fell ill and decided not to come out in the 10th round, we'l he lived a better life today.

Yes he would lose a lot of admirers for quitting and may not even be the same after the Benn fight, but the Gman can took a layoff for a year or two to recover and comeback to fight again, who knows he might get to fight Roy Jones.

I'm almost certain that he was blinking erratically as early as round six; very strange gumshield mannerisms too. I think there were problems with a brain bleed as early as then. Even had he knocked out Benn in round 8 (which he nearly did!) I think we'd have still seen him slip into a coma.

Whether Julian Jackson caused something to develop in their earlier fights is open to debate. But Benn certainly landed some sickening hooks that night too......and Benn was not feather fisted.

As for 1995 McClellan vs 1995 Jones jnr; I think the Benn fight demonstrated that whilst Gerald had a truly superb chin and insane power......his defence was weak. Jones wouldn't be able to rope a dope, as he did against Pazienza that year....but I think he'd probably win a dreary safety first decision.

[Humean]

We all knew the damage on the Gman's brain happened in the incident in Round 9 when Benn fell and his head hit McClellan's face, If Gerald had said to his corner he suddenly fell ill and decided not to come out in the 10th round, we'l he lived a better life today.

.

I don't think we know that at all, indeed why assume that when McClellan was taking solid left hooks from a murderous puncher like Benn for a number of rounds. McClellan was quite likely damaged going in and this was exacerbated by taking a hellish amount of punishment from a really big puncher in a really gruelling fight, although the punishment he took in and of itself may well have been sufficient to have caused the damage. What McCellan really needed was a competent corner instead of the knuckleheads that he had, McClellan had his mouthpiece hanging out for quite a while I recall, as he was desperately trying to suck in more air. A competent corner would probably have seen the problems and saved him, which is after all the most important duty of a fighter's corner.

[BKM-2010]

Mcclellan had an unblievably strong chin and he relied on it a lot in his fights. On top of that he preffered to keep his hands low.

It is true that the Julian Jackson fights began the damage to his brain. What's also important to note is that he apparently sparred with heavyweights at times. Also I remember reading about one fighter whose name I forget atm, who sparred Gerald and a jab to his forehead caused him to cringe out of pain and stop the session.

And of cource the Benn fight was brutal, but it has to be said that Benn's illegal punches to the back of his head caused a lot of the damage as well.

Many things contributed to the tragedy. I don't know if he could have ended up better if he quit a few rounds earlier or not. Maybe, maybe he was already too far gone.

[Juof]

He was blinking in the training clips before the fight, his gumshield was too big. If he had quit during the benn fight i still think he would have ended up the same way had he fought on afterwards but maybe they would have taken away his license causing him to never fight again and still live a normal life. i wish his career wasn't shortened its a damn shame what happened to him.

[violaandme]

I absolutely love boxing but what happened to the G-man as well as countless others makes me wonder why I like it so much

to answer the question though I don't think it would have made any difference it would have happened eventually anyway I think the damage started long before

I wish his career was stopped a lot sooner or not at all he was an amazing fighter who could have gone down as a top 20 all time great he was a special talent

[ssc73]

Gerald McClellan and Julian Jackson were two of my favorite fighters when they fought and I thought Jackson was shopworn before their fights.........McClellan was the type to want to 'out-macho' other guys though he did have good skill....he tended to drop his defense to get the KO.

I don't think the Jackson fights caused long-term problems, it was the G-man's style of 'get him back' and he was very prone to long-term injury because of the way he chose to fight........

He had some damage going in, but the Benn fight caused most of the damage.....I think for him to be 'saved from himself' that fight should have been stopped early.........the damage was done early and it just got worse........

It's also important to note that this fight in particular had a lot to do with how Roy Jones Jr. fought afterwards.........he went from a very dynamic offensive fighter to a very dynamic but cautious fighter.........it absolutely changed his approach....

I don't think McClellan, or Benn for that matter, would have had much for Jones at any point....and don't think McClellan or Jones would have fought each other any way.........

I do think McClellan would have had a decent shot at beating Hopkins though...........but at the time, it wasn't a lucrative fight..