The Nigel Benn Career Retrospective Vol 1
To most people reading my Substack, you probably have never heard the name Nigel Benn in your life. Nicknamed “The Dark Destroyer,” Benn was a boxing world champion at super middleweight (168 lbs or uhhh something something “stone”) and a major star in the United Kingdom where he resides (some of his family resides in Barbados). Why was he a star? Because Nigel Benn brought it every time. Every single solitary time he was called to fight, Benn gave all. His son Conor has carried on the tradition of hating men named Chris Eubank; that’s really his primary calling card in 2023 aside from the hardcores who remember one fight. That one fight is one very, very specific fight which I will have an entire post dedicated to. If you know boxing, you know what fight that is.
Most of Benn’s career is uploaded to YouTube for anyone to enjoy anytime they want. Obviously there will be holes in here, but honestly, I don’t think you care much about that since it will predominantly be his early contests and not the meaningful ones where he’s at the domestic championship/world level. We start back in 1987 when Reagan was president and the Mujahideen and Saddam were our allies. Turns out that was a long time ago.
Nigel Benn vs Rob Niewenhuizen: The earliest pro bout on YouTube of Nigel Benn, this is likely his first televised contest as a professional. It is immediately obvious that Nigel Benn is not here for a long time, merely a good time, and by that, I mean a good time for him. Niewenhuizen is completely run over by Benn who attacks with what appears to be reckless abandon at times. However, a keener eye sees Benn work the body to drop the hands as well as employ head movement to keep Niewenhuizen guessing. A right hand from Benn lands on the taller man he’s fighting, and only moments later a retreating Niewenhuizen winds up in the middle of the ring eating a left hook that ends the contest by referee stoppage. He gets up, but he’s ruined. Nigel Benn, meanwhile, fights like a man possessed and this is exactly the sort of Good Thing We Can’t Have Anymore.
Nigel Benn vs. Winston Burnett 1: Burnett is a journeyman with a record in the .250 win/loss ratio range who is known for making it to the end of the bout. Benn is in his 4th pro fight and this was taped as a preliminary and shown beginning in Round 2. Setting looks like a high school gym, perhaps half full. Benn’s left hook to the body is just amazing to view - it’s such a fast and crisp shot. With every body shot, Burnett reacts worse and worse. Guys like Burnett are common in British boxing more than American fighting these days, and they tend to “succeed” at getting booked often to lose 4 and 6 round decisions because they can mitigate damage. Most prospects lack a complete offensive arsenal, and they can defend well enough to the head that they can simply get by and collect their check. Benn is not a man lacking for weapons; body shots hurt everyone.
At the opening of the fourth round, Benn lands a hard right hand and Burnett is stumbling. He hadn’t been down in his career before, and this winds up a ref stoppage. Not technically a knockdown, but a stoppage nonetheless.
Nigel Benn vs. Reginald Marks: Announcer tells us not to look away, and for good reason. Benn is substantially larger and shows zero respect for Marks whatsoever. There’s an uppercut that nearly sends Marks out of the ring and it leads to a weird pause in the action. The ref should have let it end there, but instead Marks winds up eating a lot more punches. One right hand to the head sends Marks crashing to the canvas face first, and while he manages to rise, the bout is called off shortly afterwards. Marks, an American from Louisiana, appears to have gone into trucking after this bout and lives a nondescript life in Jeanerette.