Nigel Benn had one of the most exciting knockouts ever when he ended one of his early fights in the first round.
As rumors of a rematch between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn continue to swirl, the incredible career of Nigel Benn has once again re-entered the public’s consciousness.
His 1990 battle with Chris Eubank and their 1993 rematch have gone down as two of the greatest fights in boxing history.
However, three years before their first encounter, Benn achieved one of the fastest and most brutal knockouts in boxing history.
Nigel Benn knocked Ian Chantler down twice in a 16-second knockout win
Benn didn’t spend long in the ring in his decimation of Ian Chantler in their 1987 fight in Wisbech, England.
Benn turned professional earlier that year and racked up ten wins in a row en route to their fight on November 24, 1987.
Chantler was a journeyman boxer who ended his career with 27 wins and 34 losses and had a mixed record in the five years before his bout with Benn.
The fight started off at a ferocious pace, with Benn going in for the kill immediately. He charged at Chantler with his head down, intent on ending the fight quickly and painfully.
The St Helens fighter didn’t know what to do with the Dark Destroyer, who dodged Chantler’s punches to hit a single massive right hand to the skull of Chantler.
He folded in half as his lights went out, and he fell to the floor for the first time in the Englishman’s career. A clear knockout had been declared, with just 16 seconds from the bell to bell as Benn earned the fastest knockout of his career.
Chris Eubank stopped Nigel Benn three years after this KO
The 16-second KO was just one of Benn’s impressive wins early on in his career.
He suffered just one loss, a TKO defeat against Michael Watson in 1989, before winning the WBO Middleweight title in 1990 to set up his famous clash with Chris Eubank.
Both men promised to knock each other out at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, but it was Eubank who stopped the WBO Middleweight champion in the ninth round of one of the most dramatic fights of all time.
The rematch between Benn and Eubank was even bigger, taking place at Old Trafford and ending in a controversial draw.
A third fight was rumored, and Eubank even challenged Benn for a trilogy on reality TV, but their two-fight story is still one of the best in boxing history.