Gerald McClellan (born October 23, 1967) is an American Former professional boxer who held the WBC and WBO middleweight titles. Known for his punching power, The Ring magazine rated McClellan #27 on their list of "100 Greatest Punchers".

McClellan was forced to retire from boxing after a severe brain injury suffered during his final fight in 1995, a loss to WBC super middleweight champion Nigel Benn.

Professional career

Middleweight

McClellan turned professional in 1988. Trained by hall of fame trainer Emanuel Steward, he captured the vacant WBO middleweight title by knocking out John Mugabi in one round in 1991,and the WBC middleweight title by knocking out Julian Jackson in five rounds in May 1993. He defended the WBC title three times, all first round stoppages, including a rematch with Jackson.

Benn vs McClellan

McClellan moved up in weight ot challenge WBC super middleweight champion Nigel Benn in London on February 25, 1995. The fight was watched by an estimated 17 million people on television and 10,300 paying spectators.

In a savage bout, McClellan knocked Benn out of the ring in round one and scored another knockdown in round eight, but each time Benn was able to work his way back into the fight and kept landing hard power punches to the challenger. Referee Alfred Azaro was also roundly criticized for his officiating mistakes, which included impeding the challenger's progress when McClellan was trying to finish off the champion. McClellan was noticeably blinking repeatedly early in round ten, during which, after receiving a single hard blow from Benn, he voluntarily went down, taking a knee. McClellan took the mandatory eight count and the fight was resumed, but he did not throw another punch and moments later he dropped to his knee for a second time an allowed Alzaro to count him out. The fight over, McClellan immediately stood and walked to his corner under his own power. He sat on the canvas leaning against the ring apron, but while being attended to by ring physicians he slumped onto his back and lost consciousness. McClellan was strapped to a stretcher and rushed to the hospital.

Aftermath

McClellan had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. He spent eleven days in a coma and he was found to have suffered extensive brain damage. He lost his eyesight, the ability to walk unassisted and was reported as being 80 percent deaf. Sports Illustrated ran an article about the fight and its outcome one week after the fight. McClellan's family flew to be by his side, and later he was flown back to his home country. He has recently recovered some ability to walk, being helped by a cane, but he has not recovered his eyesight. In addition to being blind, his short term memory was also profoundly affected. His three sisters, particularly Lisa McClellan, are responsible for his care. In a 2001 documentary broadcast by ITV (who originally screened the fight live in the UK), Lisa stated that Gerald was in fact not deaf, but that he has trouble with comprehension when spoken to.

Tarick Salmaci, a Kronk Gym fighter claimed later in an interview that he sparred with McClellan some time before the Benn fight, and after being hit with a jab, McClellan started to blink hard and the session had to be stopped. McClellan initially claimed that he was thumbed but later admitted in the locker room that he was in fact seriously hurt. Salmaci said that he found it strange that a fighter with McClellan's chin, wearing a headgear is being hurt by a jab, and that when he noticed McClellan blinking during the Benn fight the same way, he was immediately aware that he was in serious trouble.