Dark Destroyer

by Nigel Benn

To his many fans around the world, Nigel Benn is the Dark Destroyer, a fighter of awesome and devastating power. His first 22 professional fights ended with him knocking out all of his opponents-half of them before the first round was over. Nigel Benn opens his heart in this revealing biography.

287 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nigel Benn came very close to killing one of the most feared fighters of his time in the ring. Benn’s name will forever be linked to that of Gerald McClellan after a lugubrious fight on 25th Feb 1995 a date that I’m sure is forever etched onto the soul of Nigel Benn. In fact, Benn never fought the same after that again. Benn was a tough tough dude. His parents were from the Caribbean and he was one of many brothers but always knew how to look after himself. He went into the army and that’s where I believe a lot of the discipline that you need in boxing helped him such a great deal. Benn’s fights against Chris Eubank (an incredible character in himself – do you know any boxers that can eloquently recite Kipling’s “If” for you on demand?) also captured the minds and hearts of the British public in the early 90s/ But it was that McClellan fight (McClellan is now almost completely blind and deaf and has limited memory) which Benn will be unfortunately remembered by for the rest of his life. Benn was literally knocked out of the ring in the first round and everyone who would have been watching that fight would have thought that the game was up for Benn however after weathering a storm for the first 2 rounds Benn came back stronger and stronger. Benn had an incredible punch and always hit very very hard and always tirelessly. Near the end of the fight McClellan’s gum shield had started to come out of his mouth (a sure sign that a boxer is tiring) but strangely McClellan was blinking again and again. This was a sign that something was incredibly wrong with his brain. He took a knee in around the 9th / 10th round from an innocuous looking shot and shortly after the ref waved the fight off. Benn was ecstatic but slowly the horror of what he had inflicted upon McClellan came to the realisation of Benn, McClellan’s team and family who were present and the public who were there and the millions watching this on tv. Benn was beaten badly himself and later went to the same hospital that they put McClellan in. later on the same evening, when he was bandaged up he went over to McClellan’s bed and as McClellan was unconscious took his hand in his and simply said “Sorry”.

[Lee Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never rated Benn as a great boxer, more a great fighter! Tough book through his ups and downs of his life. It was an interesting book and worth the read, I enjoyed finding out more about the man with the gloves off.

[Daniel James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mad life good book