Referee Alfredo Asaro and The Thriller in London
By Robert Brizel, Real Combat Media Correspondent
Atlantic City, NJ (February 17, 2013)–While many boxing writers have looked at the overall outcome of ‘The Big fight’, the Nigel Benn versus Gerald McClellan World Boxing Council Super Middleweight title bout in 1995, and the resulting tragic brain injury to Gerald McClellan, few have actually looked at the bout from the standpoint of the questionable count and the lengthy breaks given to Nigel Benn after he was knocked through the ropes by McClellan in the first round. Also in question are the fouls and errors which occurred thereafter.
Asaro, now 74 years old, refereed 75 bouts between 1987 and 2011, and had refereed IBF, WBC, WBF, WBO, French and European regional and continental title bouts. Asaro only refereed four world title bouts: the first was a WBC Flyweight title bout in which Yuri Arbachakov knocked out Hugo Rafael Soto in the eighth round to retain the WBC Flyweight title in Tokyo, Japan on August 1994; counting out Gerald McClellan on one knee versus Nigel Benn in the tenth round in London in February 1995; Javier Castillejo’s seventh round stoppage of Michael Rask to retain the WBC light middleweight title in Madrid, Spain in December 1999; and Keith Holmes’ eleventh round stoppage of Robert McCracken in April 2000.
When McClellan knocked Benn backwards through the ropes in the first round, Asaro possibly gave Benn an extended count which reached nine but perhaps should have reached ten. Asaro’s subsequent actions as referee show his intent was to extend the fight. Asaro kept dragging out the ‘breaks’ whenever Been got the chance to holds McClellan, interfering with McClellan’s fair chance to win by ending the bout in the first round.
Had Nigel Benn been legitimately counted out by Asaro, Gerald McClellan would have done something very superhuman but not impossible. Benn would have won four consecutive world title bouts by knockout in the first rounds. But more than the count given to Benn would ultimately be an issue in regards to Asaro’s performance as referee.
From a neutral standpoint, McClellan versus Benn was both an exciting bout and an awful bout. The exciting part came from the fighters. McClellan obviously did want to punch himself out after Benn got up and determinedly fought on. Benn was not about to go or give up at that point with the British fans cheering him on. Benn would be dropped again by McClellan in the eighth round, but stayed alive largely by holding and hitting, and hitting McClellan repeatedly behind the head all night. McClellan was winning the bout, but losing to butts and fouls Strangely, Benn was never penalized.
Benn hit McClellan three times behind the head at the end of round six and three times behind the head in round nine. McClellan started round 10 blinking while boxing, but still fighting on by instinct. Benn butted McClellan to the canvas in round 10, and hit McClellan behind the head to score a knockdown in round ten. The punches Benn landed to the back of Gerald’s head illegally might have facilitated Benn’s ability to punch Gerald in the front of the head, leading to the blood clot in Gerald’s brain OR the aggravation of the presence of it.
Thw awful part was Benn should have been disqualified long before the bout ended for repeatedly fouling Gerald in the British style of boxing, yet was never penalized for his flagrant infractions.
Asaro subsequently stated years after refereeing the Benn versus McClellan bout that “I was not responsible for what happened. That’s boxing. If I were responsible, I would have quit refereeing a long time ago. Blinking is not a reason to stop a fight.”
This sports writer is in agreement with Barry McGuigan and the late Emmanuel Steward that the Stan Johnson corner and the referee should have stopped the bout as soon as Gerald’s blinking became obvious, and Asaro was ultimately responsible for not stopping the bout as soon as he determined Gerald’s ongoing blinking was not the result of incidental contact.
Boxing champion and commentator Barry McGuigan countered “He (Gerald) should have been pulled out (of the bout), for God’s sake.” The late Emmanuel Steward, dropped by Gerald as his manager before the bout, stated after that “If I had been with Gerald, I don’t think the tragedy would have happened.” Benn, who collapsed on the way to the dressing room, later attempted suicide and went on to become a born again Christian. Stan Johnson, McClellan’s trainer, claimed in 2010 that “Benn was juicing before the bout.” Benn replied in 2011 “I have been a liar and a cheat, but I have never used steroids or performance enhancing drugs.” Benn never got a drug test and claimed “To dodge a drug test is not what I am. I am a sportsman.”
As for Nigel Benn’s character, in the 2012 interview which appears at the bottom of the links at the end of the article, Benn states “We heard Gerald McClellan was fighting pit bulls, and if they moved he’d shoot ’em. I don’t wish this (injury) on anybody, but at the time I didn’t really care.”
How Asaro (who does not speak English) got the call as ‘the best referee in boxing’ to referee the World Boxing Council match between Gerald McClellan and Nigel Benn, one can only guess. Perhaps it was felt at the time Asaro would function as a fair and impartial neutral referee, as someone unknown and from outside of England, acceptable to both sides.
It certainly was NOT impartial for Asaro to give Nigel Benn extra seconds of time to allow him to continue if he was already knocked out, or extended time off the breaks in the first round, under Britain’s Marquis de Queensberry Rules of Boxing in effect on February 25, 1995, when the McClellan versus Benn WBC bout took place. I was thinking of Benn versus McClellan while watching the Adrien Broner versus Gavin Rees WBC Lightweight title bout over the weekend at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. A great referee makes a big difference. Earl Brown did a great job protecting Rees, stopping the bout in the fifth round.
To learn more about McClellan versus Benn, the best resource is to watch the bout in its entirety, and then to watch the documentary now on YouTube, entitled, Nigel Benn, Gerald McClellan: The Fight of Their Lives. The references appear below. Asaro appears in Part Two.
BoxRec referee record of Alfred Asaro http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=400923&cat=referee
Benn McClellan Full Fight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMr24cH–0k
McClellan After the Fight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4SOYY_HQNw
Nigel Benn, Gerald McClellan: The Fight of Their Lives Documentary
ITV Sport Document in Complete http://vimeo.com/46056376
Part Two with Alfred Asaro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmTtFda4HOA
2012 Interview with Nigel Benn
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