Gerald McClellan

Gerald McClellan
Data
Birth Name	Gerald Allen McClellan
Weight class	medium weight
nationality	US-american
birthday	October 23, 1967
place of birth	Freeport , Illinois
style	Left delivery
size	1.83 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	34
Victories	31
Knockout victories	29
Defeats	3

Gerald "The G-Man" McClellan (born October 23, 1967 in Freeport , Illinois ) is a former American professional boxer and former world champion of the WBO and WBC middleweight. He was considered one of the most hitting middleweights and was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007.

In his fight against Nigel Benn in 1995, which went down in boxing history as one of the most spectacular and toughest duels in this weight class, he suffered severe brain injuries and has been severely disabled ever since.

amateur

McClellan was a successful amateur boxer. He won the Milwaukee Golden Gloves and the light middleweight gold medal three times at the 1987 U.S. Championships.

In 1988 he won the silver medal at the National Golden Gloves, where he a. a. defeated the future boxing legend Roy Jones junior . Only in the final did he fail on points to Ray McElroy, who later also became a very successful professional. In another amateur fight, he also won against Michael Moorer , who later won five world championship belts in the heavyweight division.

professional

After he was not invited to the 1988 Olympic Games, he switched to professional life. He won his first ten fights in a row by knockout, seven of them in the first round. He then suffered two point defeats in 1989, including against World Cup challenger Dennis Milton.

By August 1991 he won again twelve fights in a row, ten of them by knockout, including six in the first round. Although he had not yet beaten anyone of world class, he received the chance to win the WBO world title against John Mugabi on November 20, 1991 in London . Mugabi was a huge favorite in the duel; He had 41 fights on his professional record, including 38 wins by knockout. However, McClellan surprised the boxing world when he knocked out in the first round. He had previously hit Mugabi three times.

However, he resigned the title and knocked out five other opponents in a row, four of them in the first round. On May 8, 1993 he got the chance to win the WBC world title against Julian Jackson in Las Vegas . Jackson had won 46 of his 47 fights so far, 43 of them by knockout and was a former WBA world champion and reigning WBC world champion, who now denied his fifth title defense against McClellan. McClellan also created the sensation here and won by knockout in the 5th round. The spectacular rainfall was even voted "Knockout of the Year" by Ring Magazine .

In his first title defense on August 6, 1993 against the equally powerful Jay Bell (17 (16 by knockout) - 1-1) he won after only 20 seconds of the first round by knockout and thus achieved the fastest K . o win in an all-time middleweight title fight. On March 4, 1994 he defended his title by knockout in the 1st round against Gilbert Baptist, who then ended his career. On May 7, 1994 there was a rematch against Julian Jackson, which McClellan also won by knockout in round 1.

McClellan then resigned the title and rose to the super middleweight division. There he played his first fight in the new weight class on February 25, 1995 in London. His opponent was the widely feared "Dark Destroyer" Nigel Benn , former WBO world champion and reigning world champion of the WBC. His record was 39 wins (32 by knockout), 2 defeats and one draw. McClellan was already looking for the knockout at the beginning of the fight and drove Benn into the ropes with non-stop combinations of blows. In the first 40 seconds of the fight he knocked Benn out of the ring with seven consecutive head and body hits, but Benn was able to get back into it a second before he would have been counted. In the following rounds, the two boxers fought a sustained exchange of blows, with both coming to the brink of precipitation several times. In lap 8 Benn went down again and was counted, but was able to continue boxing again. On lap 9, Benn lost his balance after a failed right and hit McClellan's forehead with his head. On lap 10, McClellan knelt for a few seconds without being hit, but got back on his feet. But a short time later he knelt down again and let the referee count him. Due to breathing problems, he had already pushed his mouthguard forward several times between his teeth and was blinking incessantly, which the referee did not seem to notice. McClellan then collapsed in his corner and was taken to the hospital, where emergency surgery had to remove a blood clot from his brain.

Benn also collapsed in his cabin and was admitted to the same hospital. McClellan was in a coma for eleven days, suffered two strokes and one heart attack. He is blind, 80% deaf and dependent on his wheelchair and the care of his family. He also suffers from massive memory gaps. Benn apologized for the derogatory remarks he made in the ring immediately after his victory over his opponent, and paid a large part of his treatment costs. The fate of McClellan seemed to have taken him visibly, because he then lost three out of five fights and ended his career. In 2007 he organized a fundraising event for McClellan in London, where the two boxers met for the first time in 12 years. The event, which was attended by numerous boxers and other well-known personalities, raised over $ 200,000 in donations.

In 2003 Ring Magazine included him in the list of the hardest hitting boxers of all time ( The 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time ), where he came in at number 27.

predecessor	Office	successor
Chris Eubank	World Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBO ) November 20, 1991 - 1992	Chris Pyatt

predecessor	Office	successor
Julian Jackson	World Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) May 8, 1993-1994	Julian Jackson

Web links

• Balance sheet