Nigel Benn’s net worth, highest-paid fights, and career are all covered in today’s article. Nigel Benn earned the moniker “Dark Destroyer” for his determination in the ring. His never-say-die attitude made him a boxing legend. But what is Nigel Benn’s net worth today?
Nigel Benn represented a talented crop of boxers back in the ‘80s. Some of his contemporaries were the likes of Chris Eubank, Carl Thompson, and Mark Watson. Despite the stiff competition, Benn built an iconic career.
Benn was a genuine showman, which catapulted his fame to the highest level. But after his retirement, he went away to Australia to escape the very limelight he rejoiced in during his fighting days.
He announced a comeback fight in 2019 but then backed out of it. We will cover all that in the following sections and a lot of unknown facts you did not previously know about the former British fighter.
Nigel Benn’s Net Worth
| Nigel Benn’s Net Worth | $25 million USD |
Nigel Benn’s incredible career record of 42 wins in 48 bouts brought a sizable amount of cash. In his grudge match with Chris Eubank in 1990, he received a paycheck of ￡400,000 despite losing.
The duo had a rematch, and in 2015, Benn revealed that they were set for a third face-off. According to his claims, investors from Dubai were interested and offered ￡10m payouts to both fighters.
But Eubank was not on board, and the fight did not go on. Benn retired in 1996 after a second defeat against Steve Collins, but he announced coming out of retirement in 2019 for a third match.
But Benn was forced out of the game because of a shoulder injury. The bout would have involved a substantial amount of cash earnings. Despite missing out on that, Benn still has a net worth of $20 million.
Post-retirement, Benn got interested in becoming a DJ. He learned his trade and soon achieved fame in the industry. The former WBC titleholder has performed in many high-profile parties and events.
Benn created a house-garage fusion style of music, which made him very popular in the scene. In 1997, he collaborated with DJ Ride and released a mixed tape entitled Power-House UK Speed garage Vol.1.
But as the dance scene started to lose its prominence, Benn put an end to his DJ career in the early 2000s. He then tipped his toes in the waters of reality television.
Nigel Benn was featured in the first season of ITV’s reality show ‘’I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.’’ Christine Hamilton, Tony Blackburn, and Uri Geller were some of his co-stars.
Nigel Benn Now
Nigel Benn currently lives in Sydney, Australia. The 56-year-old had taken upon a rather eccentric challenge over there. He built a 10-bedroom house there, and he worked on the construction himself.
Before moving into the multi-million mansion, Benn and his family lived in numerous exotic locations. LA, Majorca, Miami, Barbados, Hawaii, Jamaica-Benn has lived in all these places over the past two decades.
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Benn runs a boxing program in Sydney, which focuses on underprivileged children. The goal of the initiative is to keep them out of the streets and in criminal activities.
He is also involved in other community services. Benn is a regular at the local church, where he also provides counsel to couples going through a rough patch.
Benn, who used to be a Satanist, is now a practicing Christian and studies theology. He hasn’t cut his ties with his boxing too. The 56-year-old has taken many young Australian boxers under his wing.
The former middleweight and super-middleweight fighter’s car collection features some vintage Porsche models. The most notable of them are a Porsche 959 convertible and a 1990 911 Sportster.
There is an interesting story about the latter car. When Benn was living in Majorca, he paid a mechanic €2000 to fix the work. The mechanic dismantled the car and fled with the money without reassembling it.
Benn had to hire another mechanic for €5000 to put the car back together. However, he did not file any legal charges against the mechanic and stated in an interview later that he has forgiven the man.
Nigel Benn Chris Eubank Rivalry
Nigel Benn is a boxer that encountered a lot of difficult opponents in his 48-bout career. But, none of them he would remember with as much grievance as he would Chris Eubank.
Rivalries are often manufactured for the sake of publicity. But, what Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank had was pure antipathy towards each other. It is one of the most bitter rivalries boxing has ever seen.
Benn never passed out on an opportunity to take a dig at Eubank, and neither did Eubank. The duo continuously exchanged insults through the media. So, the hype rose over the odds when the duo fought in the ring.
The duo locked horns for the first time in 1990. A jam-packed NEC crowd at Birmingham was hoping to witness one of the best fights of their lives. They did not return home disappointed.
After three hard-fought rounds, Nigel Benn made Eubank planting his teeth on his own tongue with a ferocious uppercut. The hit was so severe that the fight was temporarily stopped.
However, Eubank punished Benn as soon as he returned for the next round. Benn suffered a storm of punches, and one of his eyes almost got shut because of the swelling.
Benn had no answer to Eubank’s fifth-round onslaught, and the referee later intervened to call the fight for Eubank. The duo would meet again three years from then, but that fight ended in a draw.
The beef between these fighters was so intense that they also refused to shake hands with each other. And it got even worse after Eubank stripped Benn of his WBO Middleweight title in 1990.
As we mentioned earlier, a third fight between the two was reportedly in the works. But, as Nigel claimed, later on, all involved parties could not reach an agreement.
Nigel Benn’s Career
Nigel served as an infantryman for three years in West Germany and one and a half years in Ireland. He developed a liking for boxing during his army days, and later his father would also encourage him to take it up.
Even though Nigel left the army, he never forgot his military roots. The Royal Fusiliers made appearances in many Nigel Benn boxer fights wearing their uniforms to honour their former brother-in-arm.
As an amateur fighter, Nigel’s record was near flawless. In his 42 fights, he only failed to win one of those. His solitary defeat came against Rod Douglas. However, Nigel did defeat him at a later fight.
After turning professional in 1987, Nigel Benn won 22 fights at a stretch. What makes this record even more impressive is that all of these wins came via knock-outs.
In his nine-year career, Benn had fought in 48 bouts. He won 42 of them, lost 5, and drew only once. He has 35 knock-out victories in total, which puts his KO win ratio over 83%.
Benn was famous for his bellicose fighting spirit and phenomenal punching strength. He won the Commonwealth middleweight, the WBO middleweight belt, and the WBC super-middleweight belt.
In 1996, Nigel Benn sustained an ankle injury during his second fight against Steve Collins. Afterward, Benn declared his retirement from boxing. He was 32 years old at that time.
Final Say
Nigel Benn’s net worth could have been way higher had he prolonged his boxing career. Nonetheless, he remains a boxing legend with an astonishing legacy.
