Nigel Benn vs Vincenzo Nardiello

Nigel Benn retained the World Boxing Council super-middleweight championship by stopping Vincenzo Nardiello after one minute and 43 seconds of the eighth round at the London Arena on July 22, 1995. The Italian challenger had been knocked down three times in the seventh round and twice more in the eighth before indicating from one knee that he did not wish to continue. His corner threw in the towel as referee Larry O’Connell ended the contest. Benn was making the eighth defence of the championship he had won from Mauro Galvano in 1992 and was appearing for the first time since his grave and violent contest with Gerald McClellan in the same building five months earlier.

Benn weighed the super-middleweight limit of 168 pounds, with Nardiello one pound lighter. The challenger, a former European champion and an experienced southpaw, entered with a record of 26 victories and three defeats. His previous world-title attempt had ended in an eleventh-round stoppage against Victor Córdoba for the WBA championship in 1991. Nardiello was awkward rather than forceful during the opening half of the contest. He stood with his right shoulder forward, moved sufficiently to prevent Benn from setting himself and tied the champion up whenever the distance closed. Benn, normally most dangerous when allowed to attack directly, had difficulty finding a clean route for his right hand.

Nardiello made a better start on two of the official cards. Judges Carol Castellano and Alfred Asaro awarded him the first round, while Rolando Barrovecchio scored it even. The Italian used his southpaw stance to place the lead right hand and then moved away or fell into a clinch before Benn could answer. Benn pressed without producing his customary volume of hard combinations. Nardiello also took the third round on all three cards, and his irregular movements continued to disturb the champion’s timing. He would lean in, punch in short arcs and then hold, making the action untidy and preventing Benn from establishing a steady rhythm.

Benn had some success in the second, which two judges awarded to him, and improved again during the fourth and fifth. He began to bring the straight right into use against the southpaw and attacked the body whenever Nardiello remained close. The challenger was not seriously hurt, but Benn’s punches carried the greater weight and forced him to spend more time defending. Nardiello remained competitive, however, and did enough with his lead hand and occasional lefts to prevent the champion from taking complete command. The scoring reflected the unsettled character of the contest: Benn received the fourth round from Asaro and Barrovecchio, while Castellano gave it to Nardiello; all three judges awarded Benn the fifth.

Nardiello recovered sufficiently to win the sixth on every official card. He continued to frustrate Benn with holding and short, clubbing punches, and contemporary accounts reported that the challenger occasionally placed the champion in difficulty during the first six rounds. Benn later said he had been waiting for Nardiello to tire and could hear his breathing becoming heavier from the third round. Whether this was a deliberate policy throughout or an explanation offered afterwards, the Italian’s work plainly began to lose its sharpness as the contest moved into its second half. Benn remained physically strong, was unmarked by anything serious and had not been forced to maintain the furious pace that had characterised several of his earlier championship contests.

The change came abruptly in the seventh. Benn began placing straight right hands through Nardiello’s guard and drove the challenger down onto one knee. Nardiello rose, but the knockdown had removed much of his earlier assurance. Benn attacked with greater speed and purpose, throwing in combinations rather than waiting for a single opening. A left hook produced the second knockdown, although Nardiello’s descent was delayed, and he again settled on one knee after trying briefly to remain upright. Soon after the count, another right hand sent him forward and down on his stomach. Nardiello survived the round, but it had become wholly one-sided. Castellano scored it 10–7 for Benn, while Asaro and Barrovecchio each marked it 10–8.

Nardiello came out for the eighth, showing the effects of the previous round. Benn immediately resumed his attack and gave him no opportunity to recover behind movement or holding. A rapid series of punches, including a right followed by an uppercut, put the Italian down for the fourth time in the space of two rounds. He rose once more, but another right hand soon returned him to one knee. This time, Nardiello shook his head, making clear that he had had enough, and his seconds threw in the towel. O’Connell stopped the contest at 1:43. Benn had not dominated the entire match, but when Nardiello’s legs and resistance began to weaken, the champion finished with speed and accuracy rather than the reckless swinging that had sometimes marked his earlier career.

At the stoppage, Benn led on all three official cards. Castellano had him ahead by 68–63, Asaro by 68–64 and Barrovecchio by 67–66. The first six rounds had been close and awkward, but the three knockdowns in the seventh had established a decisive margin even before the finish. Benn improved his record to 41 victories, two defeats and one draw. More important at the time was the evidence that he could return to the ring and perform effectively after the McClellan contest, whose consequences had extended far beyond the result. Nardiello had offered a sound challenge for six rounds, but once hurt, he could neither smother Benn’s punches nor restore the distance that had served him earlier. He later recovered sufficiently to win the same WBC championship from Thulani Malinga in 1996, but in London, his resistance ended in two rounds of sustained, increasingly accurate punching.