Who wins? Honestly, I think it's a bad match up for Frochy. He's just a bit too straight up and easy to find with right hands for Gerald. Yes, the dog killer can often be overrated. But nobody can say that Taylor, Groves, or Kessler hit anywhere near as hard as McCllelan. I think the farmer gets the worse of this one. G-Man in 6.
Gman is kind of a mystery, since it's hard to know how good he was, and if the loss to mediocre Benn was caused by previous neurological damage or not. Still, what we know for sure is that he had great power, but a putrid defense. I dont like his chance against a bigger fighter who has a very good if not great chin. Not to say that his only foray at 168 wasn't exactly met with succes.
The longer it goes, the better for Froch... The key is whether or not he can handle the early onslaught I think McClellan is overrated in all respects, including his power, but there's no doubt he hit hard and was a fast starter Can Froch take those shots? If he can, he's got a great chance
G-man was obviously a murderous hitter at 160 but he wasn't exactly renowned for speed or angles and at 168 he hit Nigel Benn with the kitchen sink and couldn't knock him out. Froch takes shots a lot better than Benn did so long as he seems them coming, which makes me reckon he survives the early onslaught and wins this one late or on points. MTF
I don't think his power is overrated. I think his overall ability is overrated, but he could no doubt punch like a motherfucker.
I thought you got a 20 second count if you're knocked through the ropes? If that's the case then Feebs is totally right :dunno:
I think he hit hard, for sure, but his comp doesn't warrant him being called an ATG puncher, which he almost always is His most notable victory is over a small, limited middleweight titlist... I think Julian Jackson was a very weak Middleweight champ... His comp at the weight is absolutely horrible and his one big win was a miracle, desperation shot in a fight where he was getting absolutely butchered... He could still hit, obviously and credit to McClellan for shaking off some real bombs and beating him, but he was still a small middleweight with mediocre skills who could be hurt... There were several guys around at that time alone that would have whupped Jackson... For a guy McClellan's size (he was one of the first real weight-cheats in boxing), it shouldn't be a big deal for him to knock a guy like that out... I think taking into account his rehydrating stuff (before most guys were doing anything like that) and the shittiness of his comp, the guy's power needs to be placed in the appropriate context How many times have we seen dudes look like killers against crap opposition?
Of course I'm right. Under WBC rules at the time you get 20 seconds if you are knocked through the ropes, which Benn was. Of course, I managed to snare a couple of dupes... MTF ::
McClellan was a legit puncher, no question in my mind about that; his comp may have been poor but he was pretty damn good at dispatching it - didn't he have something like 20 first-round KO's on his record? Even if you are fighting stiffs, blowing through them like that is pretty good evidence of hitting fucking hard. That said, I agree with your opinion on Jackson, who was a very, very good junior middleweight but a more limited 160lber. And I reiterate that Nigel friggin Benn, who despite having my enduring affection, was hardly invulnerable and McClellan hit him with the kitchen sink for five and a bit minutes of almost completely unanswered punches and was still conscious. MTF
McClellan's comp was really really bad, though... He even lost to some nobody named Ralph Ward as well as then-future Jackson 1st round victim Dennis Milton McClellan hit real hard, but I don't think there's much to support the idea of him as an ATG in that regard... You have to prove it against better comp... Earnie Shavers was flawed as hell but obviously an ATG puncher because he consistently rocked the worlds of the best fighters of his generation, even in defeat... Maybe McClellan would have eventually done something similar against the Toneys, Hopkins, etc. but since he didn't, I can't just assume he would have any more than I could assume Ricardo Moreno would have if he had died before Hogan "Kid" Bassey carved him up
Aye, but back then everyone lost a few early fights. You used to fight eight or nine times in a year to get yourself up to speed. The modern thing about being 'unbeaten' wasn't quite as big back then, so I don't hold those too much against him. But the rest of your argument is fair, though it's hardly his fault he never got the chance to prove himself against better guys, seeing as the first one he fought vegetabled him. MTF
At 168 he didn't exactly look like a monster puncher against Benn, who is somewhat fragile at best. And like Feebs said, he didn't knock him out. He scored a knockdown/ring out, then got beaten up and vegetablised. Frock beats him up.
He didn't look that hurt to me when he was dropped, and even if he was its been proven to be a bit of an aberration since, much like Hussein knocking down Pacquiao or something like that *. * For the record, I am not directly comparing Froch to Pacquiao ::
It was no aberration. Froch is a suckered for right hands, and can be hurt and dropped by them. There's absolutely NO DOUBT that Froch gets badly hurt hits the deck against G-Man. The question is, does he survive it? Maybe. But then again, maybe not. McCllelan was a different animal than Taylor and ESPECIALLY Groves.
I agree with that. I mean that G-Man wasn't a spaz with a shit chin like Groves is. But yeah, Groves hits harder than JT did.
