Nigel Gregory Benn was born on 22 January 1964 and is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 1996.
29 Facts About Nigel Benn
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Nigel Benn held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and the WBC super-middleweight title from 1992 to 1996.
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Nigel Benn was born in Ilford, East London, on 22 January 1964.
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Nigel Benn joined the British Army Royal Fusiliers at the age of 18.
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Nigel Benn was stationed in West Germany for three years, and then in Northern Ireland for eighteen months.
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On leaving the army, Nigel Benn joined West Ham Amateur Boxing Club.
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In May 1989 Benn lost his Commonwealth title against Michael Watson in a heavily anticipated bout at Finsbury Park, London.
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Nigel Benn's next fight against Jorge Amparo in Atlantic City, US was his first fight abroad and the first to last the full distance, with Benn winning a 10-round decision.
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Nigel Benn was knocked down in round two, but came back to knock DeWitt down in round three.
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Nigel Benn scored three knockdowns in round eight to win the title.
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Nigel Benn won via the three-knockdown rule at the end of the first round.
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Nigel Benn returned to the UK and met British rival Chris Eubank three months later.
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Nigel Benn lost his title to Eubank in the ninth round after the referee stepped in and declared a win for Eubank via Technical knockout.
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On 10 October 1992, Nigel Benn successfully challenged Mauro Galvano for the WBC super-middleweight title in Palaghiaccio de Marino, Marino, Lazio, Italy.
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Nigel Benn defended his title twice more in 1994 with unanimous decisions against Henry Wharton and Juan Carlos Giminez Ferreyra.
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Round 1 saw Nigel Benn knocked through the ropes as McClellan asserted himself in dominant fashion and looked to be good to his word.
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Nigel Benn was forced to hang on and fight his way to survival in the early rounds of the contest, which developed into a brutal war between.
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However, a now clearly exhausted and drained McClellan was unable to follow up as Nigel Benn rallied to stop McClellan in Round 10 by KO, with McClellan unable to rise from his knee.
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In 2007, McClellan, his sister and his children attended a benefit dinner organised and hosted by Nigel Benn to help McClellan with his ongoing medical expenses.
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Nigel Benn then lost his title to Malinga in 1996 in a fight that saw Nigel Benn knock Malinga down in the fifth round, but in which he met the canvass in the twelfth.
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Nigel Benn retired from professional boxing altogether shortly after the fight.
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On 24 September 2019, Nigel Benn announced his return to boxing at the age of 55 after 23 years of being out of the ring.
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Nigel Benn reasoned that he wanted "closure" after the unsatisfactory end to his boxing career in 1996 as he announced a forthcoming bout with former WBC super-middleweight world champion Sakio Bika that was planned to take place on 23 November 2019.
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However, the fight was called off when Nigel Benn suffered a shoulder injury in sparring.
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Nigel Benn was entered into the World Boxing Council Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013 and was honoured alongside fellow Brit Joe Calzaghe as the WBC's greatest super middleweight champion in history.
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Nigel Benn's image is enshrined upon the sixth generation WBC super middleweight belt.
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Nigel Benn is an ambassador to the New South Wales Police Citizens Youth Club's and is an advocate for healthy living.
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Nigel Benn is a Patron of the Shannon Bradshaw Trust, a UK children's charity based in the North West of England, helping children with life-threatening conditions and their families.
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Nigel Benn ran the 2013 City to Surf to raise funds for the most underfunded PCYC gym in Redfern, Sydney and has undertaken many fund raisers for the charity since improving the boxing facilities in the most impoverished areas of Sydney.