25th February, 1995.
Nigel " The Dark Destroyer" Benn v Gerald " The G-Man " Mc Clelland.
"TWO MAN RIOT"

Over the years, I've been to some cracking fights. I saw my boyhood hero Marvin Hagler destroy Tommy Hearns with sheer aggression, in 85, and I never thought anything would come close to that - ever.
When I heard that Benn would be risking his WBC. Super middleweight title against Mc Clelland, I thought about nothing else. I had to be there.

Gerald McClelland was the most dangerous fighter in the world. To me, Nigel Benn was the most exciting fighter in the world, as you just never what was going to happen in his fights. In his fight with Anthony Logan, he was sensationally knocked down in the second round. He was gone, but he got up and stopped Logan, a few seconds later, in the round. Later in 89, he faced the brilliant boxer, Micheal Watson and many at ringside thought he would put away Watson and be home in bed by eleven. Benn was stopped by a straight left jab from Watson. You just never knew with Nigel. One thing you did know, was he feared no man in the ring.

Gerald Mc Clelland had a bad reputation, inside and outside the ring. He was bad to the core. He loved violence, but led an unbelievably clean life. No drugs, no alcohol,. His vices were women and dog fighting. When he wasn't training, or fighting he would take his dogs to fight in Detroit city, then maybe later shack up with one of his female admirers. The G-man was a man of the night allright.

McClelland was a Don King, Emanuel Steward trained, man. King had taken him through the rankings, since 1988, and on the way McClelland had punched out 28 of his opponents at middleweight, with only 2 losses by good slick pros, Dennis Milton and Ralph Ward. He also had the quickest knockout in middleweight history. Everyone thought he was bad news for Benn.

I had followed Benn and McClellands career and I really thought Benn had a great chance if he could get past the first 3 rounds. I knew McClelland had never had to go to the wall before, as he allways knocked them out quicktime . I also knew Benn had balls, and allways trained very hard for his fights. Mc Clelland, full of confidence , would underestimate him and possibly might train for an early night knockout. That was my reasoning.

On arrival from Australia, I bought the paper to see how things were going for "The Dark Destroyer" No one gave him a chance. When I arrived at the press conference, I got talking with a few of the boxing writers and after our chat, and me saying Benn could win, I think they thought I was suffering from jetlag or I was completely mad. I was confident.

The fight was a sold out affair, and Benn's crowd were in the house. East ender gangsters, the usual football hooligan crew, soapy stars, pop idols and footballers with their page three dates, and the usual ringside" in crowd". Throw in , the seasoned fight writers, and the not so seasoned and you basically had every man and their dog there. I aquired a media pass through a friend of a friend and settled down in my seat to watch, what I thought would be, history in the making.

The atmosphere was unbelievable. Punters full of beer and hope, singing, dancing , waiting for Benn to make his way to the ring. After McClelland walked out, to the booing of the crowd, it was time for Big Benn to make his way. Mc Clelland was stone cold faced, and Benn was working himself into a frenzy. I remember seeing his eyes. They were on fire. No doubt, Benn fancied himself in this fight, and paced the ring like a caged animal, waiting for a feed.

The seriously looking French referee gave both fighters their final instructions then waved them away. This was it. My heart was beating fast and butterflys were going mental inside my stomach. The fans were giving it some- bigtime.

The bell rings and Mc Clelland wastes no time and charges the smaller looking Benn . With what only seemed like a few seconds into the round, the"G-Man" throws , catches Benn with solid , flowing , unstoppable punches that connect to Benns head. Benn looks bad, unorganized, and then he falls through the ropes. I thought "fuck me"

The referee holds McClelland off and then I see Benn scrambling through the ropes. His body was riggling uncontrollably to make the count. He made it but looked well shaky. He , somehow managed to come back with wild hooks, before the bell sounded. Unbelievable.
McClelland looked confused. He should have been going home, but wasn't.

Benn came out firing. He wanted to go to war. His eyes were glassy, and he looked like a man fighting for his life. He was.
Benn was winning the war. He took his best punch and came back with a few of his own to see if McClelland could take his. The "G-man" looked confused as he took Benns wild shots and even at that early stage, I noticed he was having problems with his breathing.

Round three was toe to toe , as McClelland clearly wanted to take him out and go home to his dogs. He hit Benn with big shots but Benn had other ideas.

Round four was nothing short of a bar room brawl , except there is no backdoor to the carpark. What a fight. Rabbit punching, low blows, headbutts, everything but the chairs.

Round five, was Benns round again. McClelland switched to the southpaw stance but Benn was connecting with hooks to his head, and McClelland looked lost mid way through the round. Miraculously, he managed to come back with big landing punches to finish the round strongly. Benn looked shaky and on unsteady legs.

Round six was a war and now McClelland had the look of desperation in his face. Benn looked plain crazy.

Round seven had Benn land some more wild hooks that rocked McClelland and it looked like he wanted no more.

Round eight was more of the same, but McClellands fighting instinct was keeping him in this fight. At one point , he punched Benn back into the corner and opened up. Benn was badly hurt and I thought he would go over.
Everyone was standing. It was heart attack material.

Round nine was the first time McClelland had been past eight rounds and it had been five years since he had done any rounds. Benn came out swinging dangerously and erratically , trying to land a lucky punch. This was the beginning of the end for McClellands fight, as Benn swung himself around and fell down. He seemed to catch McClelland with his head as he whirled around violently. McClelland then looked to the referee, and tells him that he is not happy. He then went down ." Took a knee" and he was looking bad.

The crowd was going absolutely apeshit. I was fighting with myself to calm down. It was crazy, but it would get worse from here on in. McClelland was in bad shape, but he was, too good , too tough, too hard, to give in.
He got up. Benn, me, the fight writers, and the fans couldn't believe it. He actually fought on and hurt Benn again near the end of the round.

Round ten . What can I say. Watching it was a mixed emotion for me. Benn swoops in on McClelland again. He was tired, but still he threw his wild hooks. McClelland had ,had enough. He had taken heavy blows to his head.
Some big shots to the back of his head, then Benn landed with a wild right hook, which connected to his head. McClelland goes on to one knee again. He gets up again at the six or seventh count, holds out his hands and Benn comes at him again. Another right hand. This time it looked as if that would be it. It was. McClelland 's eyes were flickering like an old lightbulb.
Benn had flicked the switch and turned his lights off. He was counted out.
Benn had won the war.

I looked around me. People were going crazy. There was a rush to the ring. Wellwishers, hanger ons, doubters who wanted to get back on the big benn express. Me , I just sat down and took all the mayhem in. I had said Benn would beat "The G-Man" McClelland but I didnt think it would be like this. This much drama, crazyness, and that was even before I noticed what had happened to Gerald McClelland.

Benn was on standing on the ropes. There was plenty of chest beating.
Too right. If I had done what he done, I would be doing the same. It was a fantastic , chaotic celebration. All the while, McClelland 's body was shutting down.

What happened next .....well we all know what happened next.

Gerald McClelland was finally taken to hospital, to be cared for. I think they saved his life on the way to hospital. He now lives in Freeport, not too far from the Missisippi river. He has his family around him to care for him along with his sister, Lisa. Thank you for talking to me.

Nigel Benn travels the world , DJ-ing at the Ministry of Sound nightclubs. He fought on after the McClelland fight. He was taken once again to the wall in his fights with Vincenzo Nardiello. Nardeillo knocked him down but he got up and stopped him in the eighth round. He got off the canvas again in his next fight against Danny Perez, and finished him in seven rounds.

In 1996, he defended his WBC. title against the african warrior, Thulane Malinga. He lost on points.
He regrouped and challenged "The Celtic Warrior" Steve Collins for the WBO title and lost on both occasions in 1996.

I also travelled to Manchester from Australia to see him fight Collins in the first fight.
Funnily enough, on this occasion, I had him being stopped by the hard, strong irishman.
Since the McClelland fight , Benn was only half the fighter he had been.
That fight had taken him, emotionally and physically.

"The Dark Destroyer" left a piece of himself at the London Docklands Arena that cold, cold night.