Gerald Mcclellan

Was the Gman an elite fighter in his day. Prior to the Nigel Benn fight he gained recognition following a war with Julian Jackson and then blew him out in the rematch. Had he finished Benn in the 1st round and never had the career ending injury how do you think he would of done against the following:

Steve Collins
James Toney
Roy Jones Jr
Joe Calzaghe

Out of this series I would pick the Toney fight to be the best of the bunch, he had the skills and most importantly the chin to withstand Mcclellan's bombs.

I think he lands the big right hand on roy jones and stops him.

Calzaghe will probably suffocate him with slaps to prevent Gman from working from range.

Great matchups, not got time just now but will get my predictions up.

He wasn't quite an elite fighter phenom...He was very much in the kronk mode tall rangy with good power...

However like the beast who he beat he was carefully matched with Julian Jackson types that were going to be in his face and good targets.......

he was a proud warrior..if flawed human being...

But wasn't an elite fighter....thought he'd beat Benn though.

Steve Collins - Gman by KO, late
James Toney - Toney pts
Roy Jones Jr - Jones pts/late TKO
Joe Calzaghe - Calzaghe pts

I agree with Truss

And in the end, it was that kind of match making which cost him.

I think he gets outworked by Collins and Calzaghe and outskilled by Jones and Toney.

G-man failed to develop his boxing ability and began to rely far too much on his punching power. As anamateur, similarly to Hearns, he was a boxer with very good skills. In his early pro days he utilised his boxing more. Had he stayed that way he could have been very special. I'd have picked him against all others on the list except RJJ.

Lets not forget that Toney was getting schooled against Nunn before landing the lottery punch.

RJJ would have been a great fight and I would pick RJJ to win on points by running fast.

Explosive power is what he is best known for and he did hit mighty hard. It could be said that Jackson didn't have the best chin but still 2 fabulous wins.

Hard to truly gauge Gerald as a Pro because he never went past 8 rounds except for the Benn defeat.

I don't believe he beats Joe Calzaghe or Roy Jones both quicker than Gerald and more allround ability. James Toney was a very sound boxer but also defensively too good to be troubled by Gerald.

Steve Collins on the other hand, who I don't rate, would get his butt handed too him. Steve far too easy to hit and while tough; would not last too long against Gerald.

he made his name of jackson in 2 good wins and everyone jumped on the bandwagon thinking he was a bigger puncher than jackson.

At best he's on Steve Collins level, not sure who I'd back in that one. If Collins could survive the first few rounds (which is entirely possible with his chin) then he would win wide on points.

Toney would eat him for breakfast, KO before 6.

RJJ would be more conservative, stopping him late on, could do it earlier but he would be a bit wary of his power

Calzaghe would outpoint him comfortably. Calzaghe's chin/powers of recovery outshine GMans power IMO

I tend to agree that he beats Collins but comes up short against against RJJ, JC and Toney. He was a good fighter, good puncher but sometimes over reliant on his power. Always felt he was better suited to 160 than 168 but that's where the better fights were. There's always been a suggestion that he didn't suffer the injury in the benn fight, but that it was a pre-existing problem (possibly sustained in the war with Jackson) that was exacerbated in the benn fight.

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:I tend to agree that he beats Collins but comes up short against against RJJ, JC and Toney. He was a good fighter, good puncher but sometimes over reliant on his power. Always felt he was better suited to 160 than 168 but that's where the better fights were. There's always been a suggestion that he didn't suffer the injury in the benn fight, but that it was a pre-existing problem (possibly sustained in the war with Jackson) that was exacerbated in the benn fight.

He should have had a tune up at 168 first. He was a very big MW and had to boil down. He definately didn;t have the injury prior to the Benn fight as that would have been picked up in a MRI scan. I think he would have taken Toney and JC but probably not RJJ. Wont even mention collins in the same breath.

He could have been an elite fighter had the focus not been on him blowing people out double quick. In some film of him you can see that classic Kronk schooling, and when he deigned to use his jab, it looked pretty good. A fight ending right hand is such a wonderful weapon to have it's easy to focus your plan too much around landing it.

Power alone is not enough to beat Collins in my view. His work rate, style and durability made him a real handful.

Collins would probably need to survive some big shots but he showed on plenty of occasions he could do that and I dont think McClellan has remotely the all round skills to outbox Collins. I would make Collins a handy favourite.

Azania: He definately didn;t have the injury prior to the Benn fight as that would have been picked up in a MRI scan
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I'm
Not saying he did or didn't have a problem before he got in with benn, but you can't say he DEFINITELY didn't Az. Even now 15 years later with more advances in medical science and technology tumours, blood clots and other illness's go undetected by MRI's, ultrasounds, CAT scans etc. Even when giving the gender of a baby to prospective parents its only 90% accurate - nothing is 100%, so you can't say he definitely didn't have a problem. There are reports to suggest he'd had severe head aches and nose bleeds post Jackson. Against benn he was clearly in distress from at least the 4th, yet he'd not been that heavily tagged early on - apart from the clash of heads. It's less likely he gad a problem prior to the fight due to medical screening, but we can't say he definitely didn't.

azania wrote:

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:I tend to agree that he beats Collins but comes up short against against RJJ, JC and Toney. He was a good fighter, good puncher but sometimes over reliant on his power. Always felt he was better suited to 160 than 168 but that's where the better fights were. There's always been a suggestion that he didn't suffer the injury in the benn fight, but that it was a pre-existing problem (possibly sustained in the war with Jackson) that was exacerbated in the benn fight.

He should have had a tune up at 168 first. He was a very big MW and had to boil down. He definately didn;t have the injury prior to the Benn fight as that would have been picked up in a MRI scan. I think he would have taken Toney and JC but probably not RJJ. Wont even mention collins in the same breath.

Az, come on now, "taken Toney"? Lights Out would have played with McClellan, absolutely toyed with him back then. Toney had far too much guile for Gerald. Too good defensively, solid chin, sound fundamentals and enough power to keep anyone honest. In my humble opinion, there is no way McClellen would have enough gumption to beat Toney.

azania wrote:

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:I tend to agree that he beats Collins but comes up short against against RJJ, JC and Toney. He was a good fighter, good puncher but sometimes over reliant on his power. Always felt he was better suited to 160 than 168 but that's where the better fights were. There's always been a suggestion that he didn't suffer the injury in the benn fight, but that it was a pre-existing problem (possibly sustained in the war with Jackson) that was exacerbated in the benn fight.

He should have had a tune up at 168 first. He was a very big MW and had to boil down. He definately didn;t have the injury prior to the Benn fight as that would have been picked up in a MRI scan. I think he would have taken Toney and JC but probably not RJJ. Wont even mention collins in the same breath.

To be honest I watched a british documentary on the Benn Mcclellan fight and it did mention that Manny Steward noticed something was wrong with Gman prior to the Benn fight thus he refused to train him and they fell out.

Although I can see the case for all of the above names to beat Gman his power was a great equaliser. He definately had enough speed and skill to land on these men. Who knows how they would react once feeling his power.

azania wrote:G-man failed to develop his boxing ability and began to rely far too much on his punching power. As anamateur, similarly to Hearns, he was a boxer with very good skills. In his early pro days he utilised his boxing more. Had he stayed that way he could have been very special. I'd have picked him against all others on the list except RJJ.

Lets not forget that Toney was getting schooled against Nunn before landing the lottery punch.

RJJ would have been a great fight and I would pick RJJ to win on points by running fast.

Didn't GMan beat Jones in the amateurs?

Just googled it. TKO victory. Obviously had skills and speed