by Green Machine
Welcome to round 2 of the BTBC's "What if...?" project series. This time, "What if...?" takes a trip back to 1995. Roy Jones Jr. had won the supermiddle weight championship from James Toney at last years end, and Gerald McClellan had made his SMW debut against Nigel Benn, the WBC champ, in February.
What we're going to do here, is play out the scenario where McClellan wins the Benn bout (as he should have, had a competent referee been involved), and moves on to a unification bout with Jones. That bout was big talk before the Benn fight and the question has always been asked how the two would match up in the pro ranks (McClellan defeated Jones in the amateurs)
I'll be utilizing Title Bout Championship Boxing :(http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/joomla/home-tbcb.html ), as I did in our first project, and using the same criteria to come up with the official bout results.
McClellan defeats Benn!!
February 26, 1995
London – Former middleweight champion Gerald McClellan made a successful debut in the super-middleweight division last night by defeating the reigning WBC champion, Nigel Benn in front of a packed New London Arena. via a narrow majority decision.
It wasn’t easy by any stretch, although it looked as if Benn would be taken down early when the “G-Man” knocked him out of the ring in the first round. To Benn credit, he managed to survive the round and make a fight of it despite being dropped again in the eighth round and being penalized a point for rabbit punches in the ninth. The deduction ultimately cost Benn the bout, without it the bout would have been a majority draw with Nigel retaining his title.
“This is what makes the super-middleweight division and Gerald McClellan so strong”! bellowed promoter Don King. “The G-Man came across the seas for victory, and now he can return home with his head held high. Benn showed a lot of heart, but this is the G-Man right here!"
McClellan and his team have been talking of a unification bout with IBF champion Roy Jones Jr., who many feel is the best pound for pound fighter in the game right now. McClellan owns a victory over Jones from their amateur days, but that talk will have to wait as Jones has a scheduled defense against Antoine Byrd next month. If he’s successful, as many assume he will be, then a match with McClellan is a real possibility.
To Be Continued in Part 2
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