Michael Nunn vs Nigel Benn

[Sweet Science]

I think this would make a very interesting match up. It's a shame this bout never actually happened as it would have been possible say around 1990, when Benn & Nunn were WBO and IBF Middlewight champions' respectively.

I would lean towards a unanimous decision for Michael Nunn, he was an excellent boxer, Very quick and exceptionally stylish. However, Benn was very courageous and of course had some dynamite in his hands as is evident from those 22 consecutive KO victories. But I'm still going with Nunn because if Michael Watson could beat him then so would Nunn.

How do you think it would have played out?

[Smith]

I would definetely have Benn winning this! You can't just use the line 'because boxer A beat boxer B, boxer C can beat boxer B'. It deosnt work like that!

[Sweet Science]

I would definetely have Benn winning this! You can't just use the line 'because boxer A beat boxer B, boxer C can beat boxer B'. It deosnt work like that!

I meant Watson was quite a smooth boxer himself who had a good defense. So if Benn had trouble with him, he'd most certainly have trouble with Nunn.

You also fail to mention how Benn would win.

[Smith]

I meant Watson was quite a smooth boxer himself who had a good defense. So if Benn had trouble with him, he'd most certainly have trouble with Nunn.

You also fail to mention how Benn would win.


I think Nunn would absolutely dominate the first 4 rounds, but Benn would get some shots in of his own. Nunn would use his hand speed and combos to try and stop Benn, and this would prove very effective, but he cannot get Benn to stay down, and Nigel keeps on coming. Around the 6th or 7th round Nunns number of punches fall dramatacially, and Benn comes back with some savage hits. Around the tenth round, Nigel lands a hook square on Nunns chin, and despite Michael trying to go on, the fight is eventually stopped. A classic nonetheless

[Vantage_West]

I meant Watson was quite a smooth boxer himself who had a good defense. So if Benn had trouble with him, he'd most certainly have trouble with Nunn.

You also fail to mention how Benn would win.yeah watson and nunn were very close in comparrison.

nunn didnt have the work rate and the power like watson everything else yes.

[rekcutnevets]

I think Nunn would be outboxing Benn, winning most every completed round, when Benn would find away to go upside Nunn's head.

Benn by ko.

[Cobra33]

Watson was nowhere close to Nunn in terms of Talent.

[TBooze]

Arum talked it up in an interview for ITV's Boxings year end show of 1988...

But then the Watson fight happened.

And to be brutal, Nunn in 89 was twice the fighter Watson ever was, in theory Benn/Nunn in 89 would of been fun, but I suspect it would of been one sided.

But had they met at 168lbs in 93, I take Benn to win at a canter.

[Doppleganger]

Nunn by UD or late rounds TKO. Nunn would be too slick for Benn and might even stop him late as Benn never did have the greatest chin.

[Mantequilla]

Nunn only ever looked good in a few fights and based his reputation largely on the bout with Tate and a fluke ko over kalambay.

He was a complete fraud.

[Cobra33]

And when Nunn took out Roldan in 8 that wasn't impressive?

How about when he crushed KRONK middleweight Darnell Knox in 4 rounds?

Or when he iced the usually durable Curtis Parker in 2?

Or when he shut out Kevin Watts,who was rated,over 12 rounds.Did Kevin even LAND 1 punch?

Or outboxing soild pro Mike Tinley(who Benn would have lost to if he fought) over 10 rounds?

Hell Nigel Benn almost lost to a shopworn Sanderline Williams.
And I thought Maligna beat him the first time.
And he going to get to a 6'3 southpaw who is as fast and elusive as they come?Please.

[Mantequilla]

Well i think Benn was a fraud as well.

Nunn was not that elusive at all.He got hit plenty even against those fighters you mentioned and didn't really know how to slip a right hand.

[Raggamuffin]

I think this would be simular to Nunn-Toney
Benn being outboxed for most of the fight until he finally lands big.
After that ????
Benn was a classic finisher with non stop aggression when he had his man in trouble.
He could also punch himself out
Benn by late round stoppage

[Cojimar 1945]

Nunn seems considerably more accomplisheed than Benn. A win by Benn would seem unlikely given their resumes. Styles are of course important but I am dubious as to how Benn would win this.

[Sweet Science]

Nunn seems considerably more accomplisheed than Benn. A win by Benn would seem unlikely given their resumes. Styles are of course important but I am dubious as to how Benn would win this.

I agree with you Cojimar, Nunn outclasses Benn and wins a UD. The only thing Nunn lacked was power.

[TBooze]

I agree with you Cojimar, Nunn outclasses Benn and wins a UD. The only thing Nunn lacked was power.

Mr Kalambay may disagree...;)

But I get your general point!

[unitas]

nunn ud.

[Sweet Science]

Mr Kalambay may disagree...

Indeed, although despite my previous remark, I must say Nunn did have a suprisingly respectable career KO percentage of 60%. That's Higher, than Roberto Duran's no less!! However, I still think power was the only thing Nunn lacked. I think it was more a case of his speed that did the killing, i.e. them not seeing the punches coming.

[Mantequilla]

He lacked ring generalship, dedication and ana bility to consistently put his tools together into something coherent.PReferring to clown around and coast.

I say again, apart from a brief run, the guy was a damn fraud who gave us some of the worst performances ever from a supposedly talented fighter.

[Sweet Science]

He lacked ring generalship, dedication and ana bility to consistently put his tools together into something coherent.PReferring to clown around and coast.

Mantequilla, I feel you are being overly harsh to Nunn here.

If, as you claim he lacked 'ring generalship' did he really need it given the fact he ran rings around most of his opponents?

I say again, apart from a brief run, the guy was a damn fraud who gave us some of the worst performances ever from a supposedly talented fighter.

Also, if as you say he lacked dedication, then considering what he achieved (Middleweight champ for over 3 years - even considered one of the best P4P fighters at the time) then how can he be a fraud? As, if he were more dedicated then presumably his acheivemnets would have been even greater!

[Doppleganger]

Mantequilla, I feel you are being overly harsh to Nunn here.

Very harsh! Perhaps the guy never truly fulfilled his promise, but he had a pretty good career nonetheless, only lost 4 times in a long career and held versions of the MW and SMW titles.

[atberry]

Benn saw Nunn as a potential target before he fought Tate even, and Dan Goosen had tapes of Nigel.

Nunn was ringside at Benn-Watson, as were Chris Eubank and Roy Jones! Nunn, Eubank and Jones all wanted the next NBC date with Benn, 'when' he knocked decent-record'd, good-physiqued Watson out.

Realistically, the only decent fighter Benn went and fought (up to around that point) - Watson - he lost to. He'd only been a pro about a couple of years. Whereas Nunn had piled up a nice resume, underdog against Tate and Kalambay but coming out with 15-round dominations and one-round blow-outs. Some even made him underdog against Barkley.

Benn's power punching looked super and he had charisma, he was exciting. He had a great record of early KO's. But was he in Nunn's league?

He certainly proved something in his five fights Stateside, big things against DeWitt and Barkley, taking them out where Tommy Hearns's right-hand failed.

Nunn liked leaning away from punches on the move and Benn loved space to get leverage and momentum to his punches, loved being able to get his bodyweight forward and launch himself into those super power punches, and not just against bums but Barkley shipped some and went and granite-chinned, elusive mover Eubank shipped some.

But would Nunn have a field day peppering a naive version of Benn with long quick shots on the backfoot? Would Benn have the stamina to pack punches with true force beyond five or six, or even four rounds? Remember, if you miss a punch it takes more out of you...

Wisely you'd pick Nunn in a late-ish stoppage, but unwisely you'd write Benn off in not being able to knock him out in the first four.

[atberry]

If they finally fought in 1994 or 1995, it would have been interesting, though not as. Both lost abit of their speed and zap. Benn had the ability to move in and out a lot by then and keep his shoulders moving without throwing... better stamina, less mistakes, very, very good head and upper body movement and more guile. Nunn on the other hand had declined in all areas, other than maybe body punching (that suddenly became terrific in the fight with Crawford Ashley).

[Xplosive]

Nunn at his best TKO's Benn in a one sided fight.

[Xplosive]

yeah watson and nunn were very close in comparrison.

nunn didnt have the work rate and the power like watson everything else yes.

Nunn was better and more talented than Watson.

[Addie]

Michael Nunn wasn't a fraud, he was a victim of circumstance. He had looked elusive, and very good, a potential world champion as he was coming up through the ranks as youngster. Managed well by the Goosen's, he eventually got that shot against Tate, who had beaten him as an Amateur, and what transpired was an awe inspiring display of Boxing. Nunn put it altogether that night, stopping a good fighter in Tate, who'd never recover.

As for Nunn's career, he was guilty of some pedestrian performances after he first won his title. He chopped and changed his style, I believe, to cater for his ambition. Let's not forget, this guy was being groomed as a big star, some were saying he was the second coming of Sugar Ray Leonard. He had the looks, he had the talent, but his early style was not going to cut it with HBO and American audiences. He changed his style, he sat down more on his punches and he began to showboat. This made him easier to hit.

That said, despite his poor performances, albeit winning ones, against Curry, Barkley, and Starling, he was performing very well against Toney prior to the knockout. Toney, at the time, wasn't seen as much of threat, but now we know that Nunn was up against a very, very good fighter indeed, and I had Michael up a couple of points prior to that huge shot that shut Nunn down. Was it a fluke like Nunn's knockout over Kalambay was supposedly a fluke?

Nunn was a great fighter, had a lot of talent, but he was under too much pressure and he simply couldn't handle it. He turned to drugs after the Toney loss, and you show me a professional fighter on drugs who was performing at a high level, and I'll be shocked.

As a side note, Michael Nunn embarrasses Nigel Benn on route to a late stoppage. Benn will be hot for a round or two, coming out in his usual lights out fashion, but then he'll begin to get picked off by the faster hands of Nunn, and his angles and movement would frustrate Benn to the point where he'd be so concerned with a knockout that'd he'd probably find himself on the end of a solid left himself. Benn had a lot of power, a lot of heart, but I don't have a lot of confidence in his punch resistance and Nunn could hit.

[Vantage_West]

Nunn was better and more talented than Watson.

yeah poor comparison by me 3years ago man when I became a user to an addict anyways ignore it please

[Sayers]

Could it be that Nunn is one of those fighters who needs to be challenging for a title to keep his desire burning? His performances certainly dropped off after winning the championship.

In light of this, I pick Nunn to either win and retain the title by UD or, if he is defending against Benn, to lose by mid round KO.

[atberry]

Could it be that Nunn is one of those fighters who needs to be challenging for a title to keep his desire burning? His performances certainly dropped off after winning the championship.

In light of this, I pick Nunn to either win and retain the title by UD or, if he is defending against Benn, to lose by mid round KO.
Interesting point, if a young Benn was challenging Nunn... would Nunn even take a wild Brit seriously?

I don't think Barkley took him all that seriously even after the horrific one-sided beatdown of ultra-tough, known DeWitt. (Neither did McClellan, after Benn had already had a great long career!)

[crippet]

I think the Benn that beat McClellan would have beaten Nunn - But would favour Nunn against any other Benn

Benn really should have thrown his belt into the garbage after beating McClellan then he would have had greatness bestowed on him by fans claiming he would of beat etc etc etc

Riddick Bowe used this method of non-fighting and ducking to become the apologists favourite, and most over-rated heavyweight of all time.

[Cobra33]

Sanderline Williams almost beat Benn.Dewitt?He was done when Benn faced him.

Nunn would have KNOCKED out Benn-Hell even Frank Tate would have spanked Benn and Nunn beat the hell out of Tate.

[essexboy]

Sanderline Williams almost beat Benn.Dewitt?He was done when Benn faced him.

Nunn would have KNOCKED out Benn-Hell even Frank Tate would have spanked Benn and Nunn beat the hell out of Tate.

Lets not get carried away, Sanderline Williams gave Benn, Herol Graham, Iran Barkley and James Toney close fights. As for Tate spanking Benn, I dont think so.

[atberry]

DeWitt didn't look done when he beat Matt Hilton, took Matt Hilton's best left hooks and didn't even look like going.

Against Benn, Doug's ear was BLUE after a round or two and Benn was whacking his head from one side of the ring to the other with a shot. I don't know how he lasted eight, no idea. I know he was tough, but man.

[Russell]

He turned to drugs after the Toney loss, and you show me a professional fighter on drugs who was performing at a high level, and I'll be shocked.



Nunn supposedly more or less was never not on drugs.

I've heard he was a on and off cocaine user since he was a teenager. :think

[Mr Butt]

benn gets outboxed by nunn and is well behind when benn catches him around the 7th.

[Boro chris]

Sanderline Williams almost beat Benn.Dewitt?He was done when Benn faced him.

Nunn would have KNOCKED out Benn-Hell even Frank Tate would have spanked Benn and Nunn beat the hell out of Tate.

I agree that Nunn would have beaten Benn(late round stoppage probably) but Dewitt was coming off good wins against Simms and Hilton. He was definately not 'done' when Benn faced him, just outclassed by a more talented fighter.
As for Tate I don't know, but Benn definately had a weakness against good world class boxers.(when compared to how he dealt with more aggressive fighters who were also world class)

[atberry]

DeWitt was a good boxer when he wanted to be, not a bad technician at all...particularly good at keeping his 'fence' up when doubling and trebling jabs and hooks, his footage might be the best example to show youngsters that. But he could switch brawler of course. Against Benn he just got hit too hard, too early, too often to really do anything other than hang about.

[Sonny Carson]

The people who think Benn would KO Nunn late are delusional. Benn may have had more power than James Toney, but he was not the counter puncher Toney was. Remember Michael Nunn was never stopped besides the time he fought Toney. Nunn would have an easier time with Benn than Toney because Benn doesn't have Toney's speed or counter punching ability. Nunn at 160 would have beaten Benn's ass.