Жас боксшының қасіреті: Джулиан Макклелланның трагедиясы

American boxer

As an amateur, McClellan was a four time Wisconsin Golden Gloves champion, 1984–1987, competing mostly in the junior middleweight division.

McClellan turned professional in 1988. Trained by hall of fame trainer Emanuel Steward, his early career was notable for a propensity for quick victories by knockout: only two of his first 29 fights went beyond the third round, although he lost both of those on the scorecard (in 6 rounds against Dennis Milton, 8 against Ralph Ward, in successive fights.) However, these proved only a momentary check on his career, as 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, after McClellan had survived some brutally hard punches from Jackson in the second and third rounds. McClellan defended the WBC title three times, all first round stoppages, including a rematch with Jackson. In the fall of 1994, McClellan separated from his long term trainer Emanuel Steward.

McClellan moved up in weight to 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. Throughout the fight Gerald received several punches to the back of the head, known to be especially dangerous, without referee interference. 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 Benn in round 1. McClellan was noticeably blinking repeatedly early in round ten, during which, after receiving a single hard blow from Benn who seemed to throw his shoulder into McClellan's eye, he voluntarily went down, taking a knee again. 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 and allowed Azaro to count him out. After the fight was over, McClellan immediately stood up and walked to his corner under his own power. He then sat down on the canvas and leaned against the ring apron, but while being attended to by ring physicians he slumped onto his back and lost consciousness. McClellan was subsequently strapped to a stretcher and rushed to the hospital.

McClellan had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. He spent eleven days in a coma and 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 London to be by his side, and he was later flown back to his home country. He has recently recovered some ability to walk with the assistance of 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 2011 documentary broadcast by ITV (which originally screened the fight live in the UK), Lisa stated that Gerald is 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 had sparred with McClellan over a year before the Benn fight, and that after McClellan was hit by a jab thrown by Salmaci, McClellan started to blink hard and the session had to be stopped. McClellan initially claimed that he was thumbed, but later admitted to Salmaci 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 headgear was being hurt by a jab, and that when he noticed McClellan blinking during the Benn fight in the same way, Salmaci was immediately aware that McClellan was in serious trouble. Also notable in hindsight was McClellan complaining of getting regular headaches after his first fight with Julian Jackson in May 1993. In the fight, McClellan's chin resisted Jackson's formidable punching power before McClellan won the fight in round 5, but Jackson's punches may have done some damage to McClellan's brain, such as concussions, that were not noticed at the time.

McClellan has been the honoree at numerous banquets and award ceremonies, and fellow boxing world champion Roy Jones Jr., often pointed out as a rival middleweight champion during 1993–94 (indeed, McClellan actually beat Jones as an amateur), set up a foundation to help McClellan. Nigel Benn himself has also helped to raise funds for McClellan's treatment, and the two men would meet again for the first time since their bout at a fundraiser held in London on February 24, 2007. Several items were auctioned off at the event and a total of £200,000 was raised. In May 2012, the World Boxing Council publicly appealed for donations to a trust fund set up in McClellan's name in order to help his sister Lisa maintain his 24 hour care. In July 2017, McClellan took a turn for the worse, and underwent surgery to repair a malfunctioning colon. McClellan now uses a colostomy bag, and incurs colostomy supply expenses of about 500 dollars a month. Former world light middleweight champion Terry Norris, whose Final Fight Foundation acts to protect boxers, made an appeal for the Gerald McClellan Trust, noting, "McClellan's organs are starting to shut down because of his brain injury." Ring 10, a nonprofit organization that helps impoverished former fighters, provides McClellan with monthly food credit and raises funds to assist with payment of other necessities.

According to an article in The Observer, McClellan participated in dog fighting. McClellan's trainer and family admitted that McClellan was involved with fighting pitbulls, and on one occasion had used tape to bind the jaws of a Labrador shut before allowing his pet pit bull "Deuce" to kill it.

No. (Number)ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes34Loss31–3Nigel BennTKO10 (12), Feb 25, 199533Win31–2Julian JacksonKO1 (12), May 7, 199432Win30–2Gilbert BaptistTKO1 (12), Mar 4, 199431Win29–2Jay BellKO1 (12), Aug 6, 199330Win28–2Julian JacksonTKO5 (12), May 8, 199329Win27–2Tyrone MooreTKO2 (10)Feb 20, 199328Win26–2Steve HarveyTKO1 (8), Nov 7, 199227Win25–2Carl SullivanTKO1 (10), May 15, 199226Win24–2Lester YarbroughTKO1 (10), Feb 24, 199225Win23–2John MugabiTKO1 (12), Nov 20, 199124Win22–2Sammy BrooksTKO1 (8), Aug 13, 199123Win21–2Ivory TeagueTKO3 (10)Jul 27, 199122Win20–2Ken HulseyKO1 (10)Mar 1, 199121Win19–2Danny MitchellKO1 (10), Dec 15, 199020Win18–2José Carlos da SilvaTKO3 (8)Nov 14, 199019Win17–2Charles HollisPTS8Sep 14, 199018Win16–2Sanderline WilliamsUD8Aug 21, 199017Win15–2James FernandezTKO2 (8)Jun 12, 199016Win14–2Brinatty MaquilonTKO3 (8), Apr 26, 199015Win13–2Ron MartinTKO1 (8)Mar 10, 199014Win12–2James WilliamsonKO1 (8), Jan 20, 199013Win11–2Rick CaldwellKO1 (8)Dec 14, 198912Loss10–2Ralph WardUD (Unanimous decision)8Sep 21, 198911Loss10–1Dennis MiltonPTS (Points decision)6Jun 24, 198910Win10–0Terrence WrightTKO1 (8), Apr 14, 19899Win9–0Tyrone McKnightTKO2 (8)Feb 19, 19898Win8–0Anthony JacksonKO1 (6), Feb 10, 19897Win7–0Joe GoodmanKO2 (6)Feb 4, 19896Win6–0Jerome KellyTKO1 (6), Dec 3, 19885Win5–0John GordonTKO2 (6), Nov 25, 19884Win4–0Roberto AbondoTKO1 (4), Nov 22, 19883Win3–0Danny LowryTKO1 (6), Nov 3, 19882Win2–0Bill DavisTKO (Technical knockout)1 (4)Sep 15, 19881Win1–0Roy HundleyKO (Knockout)1 (4)Aug 12, 1988