Nigel Benn is a former WBC and WBO super-middleweight champion, but has openly acknowledged that one man was too formidable for him.
Benn was active during the golden era of British super middleweights. He fought the likes of Chris Eubank Sr, losing once and drawing once, as well as Steve Collins, who beat him twice. He managed to get big wins over American Gerald McClellan and Iran Barkley and retired in 1996 with a knockout ratio of 83.3%.
Since then, his famous rivalry with Eubank has played out between both former fighters’ sons, who came together back in April in London, with Eubank Jr taking a points win after 12 rounds. There has been plenty of talk of a rematch since, but as yet nothing official has been announced.
The fight has allowed fans to reminisce about Nigel’s exhilarating career, discussing his best performances as well as fantasy match-ups.
In a resurfaced interview with Boxing Scene, Benn admitted that there is one man he thinks he could never have beaten, and that’s the great Joe Calzaghe.
“Joe struggled against nobodies. But when he stepped up in class to fight the likes of Jeff Lacy, for instance, he made them look like nobodies. I’d have loved him to have been around in my heyday. I’ll be honest enough to admit I think he would have beaten me – he’d have been in a fight though.”
Calzaghe famously retired undefeated with a record of 46 fights, 46 wins. After dominating the super-middleweight division and beating the likes of Eubank Sr, Richie Woodhall, Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler, he moved up to light heavyweight for his final two contests and beat Bernard Hopkins, then Roy Jones Jr to become and retain the Ring Magazine title.
