We look back on the War of the Roses for the WBO cruiserweight title that ended up with not two, but three, fighters involved...
Many of boxing's grudges are born out of sheer dislike, but others are born out of need. When Johnny Nelson and Carl Thompson collided at the end of the Millennium, it was because the former needed it.
Nelson, the Sheffield stylist from the same Brendan Ingle gym as Naseem Hamed and Ryan Rhodes, had already failed in two world-title bids. Thompson had the WBO cruiserweight title, having won it in 1997 and defended it twice with thrilling wins over Chris Eubank.
Nelson felt he was due a shot, his achievements in the division far more deserving than Eubank's reputation for a crack at the quietly-spoken Manchester man. And he let the world know. It began with some simple ringside goading, would get personal and to this day, more than a decade on, means two of British boxing's survivors are still not on speaking terms.
Had Thompson not been ringside for Nelson's routine win over Dirk Wallyn it might have been different, but once he was brought into the post-fight interview where the line was cast by Nelson and Ingle and the bait well and truly taken by the WBO champion, live on
Sky Sports.
Ingle was the cheerleader, screaming "next fight, next fight", Thompson tried to grab the mic and get a word in edgeways, but never did. The Eubank matches then passed and while back-to-back wins over the modern-day legend raised his stock even higher, The Cat was given little time to celebrate, knowing that Nelson was coming for him.
The fight, War of the Roses, was announced in London but Thompson did not show at the press conference. Nelson, always the opportunist, enjoyed centre stage and started sewing the seeds of doubt. He had got wind of problems between Thompson and Frank Warren, also his promoter, and claimed - falsely - that he was getting paid twice as much for the fight. As the challenger!
Nelson knew this was the last chance to save his career. And he knew how to drum up interest. Thompson though, had different ideas. He was never one to come out shouting, quiet and unassuming, he was happier letting his fists do the talking, more comfortable in combat than in front of the cameras.
Nelson upped the ante, and brazenly predicted a fifth-round stoppage. It was not his plan, just another way of unsettling his opponent. Thompson though, was not willing to play the game for the press and public and felt, as the world champion who had just beaten Eubank, that he deserved better. "He made my blood boil. He really gets me going. He says he will beat me in five, I say I will beat him in two. I don't normally resort to saying things that are disrespectful. Dis-re-spect-ful."
Seething
By the time they came to the final press conference in Derby, where the fight would take place, Thompson was anything but the shy, softly-spoken warrior who was admired throughout the sport. He was a seething rage and when the pair did the staredown - with Nelson still chipping away under his breath on the blindside of the cameras - Thompson looked ready to clock his man then and there. Only a timely stand-down from Nelson - never one to take a punch if he could help it - prevented the sort of press conference punch-up that many of boxing's grudges enjoy.
But as far as he was concerned, he had won another battle and was winning the war. By the time fight night arrived, on March 27th, 1999, Thompson could not stand the sight or sound of him. A chance meeting in a club - when Nelson claims Thompson was trying to chat up one of his ex-girlfriends - and the occasional phone call had made this more personal than we thought.
Then as fight night came closer, a third party came somersaulting over the top rope into an already volatile situation: none other than the Prince, Naseem Hamed. He had fallen out and split from Warren and had urged his Sheffield stablemate Nelson not to sign up with the promoter.
Nelson though, needed another world-title fight and in putting pen to paper, all but ended his friendship with the precocious Hamed. Ingle, who had nurtured Naz from schoolboy to superstar, was no longer on speaking terms with him either and Nelson would defend his trainer to the hilt, like a father would a son.
Unable to stop his mate switching to the dark side, Hamed saw Thompson as the perfect billboard for his bitter fued with Warren. He jumped on The Cat's bandwagon, made no secret of his support and even offered to sponsor the champion. For the fight, Billy Graham and the rest of Thompson's team wore Naz t-shirts, knowing it would incense the opposite corner. Yet strangely, Thompson did not wear one. If Naz wanted to sponsor him, he needed to pay him and to his eternal credit, the problems between Hamed, Warren and Ingle, were nothing to do with him. So why should he?
Nelson was first in the ring and bawled "come on!" as Thompson, complete with the WBO belt, made his entrance. The sight of a self-confessed boring boxer, a master of the Ingle defence and a man who would do all he could not to get hit, itching for a tear-up must have angered Thompson even more.
He was the champion, Nelson the non-achiever who had a reputation for bottling it in big fights. Yet, the fifth-round prediction, the disrespect, had lulled Thompson in. He had gone three better and was adamant he would retain his title in two.
Hurtful
Thompson no doubt wanted to inflict serious damage and to all intents and purposes, bring an end to Nelson's career. Yet he did not come out like a man on a hurtful mission. He started slowly, even by his own measured standards, and in the fourth found himself on the floor. Nelson had told him he would put him down and do an Irish jig over him when he did. The TV cameras missed it, but the little dance was duly done before Thompson regained his senses and his feet.
Then came the fifth. The round it was all supposed to happen in. And it did. Not though, because Nelson had a strict plan but because everyone, including referee Paul Thomas, was expecting it. Yes, Nelson put together a sweet combination but even he admits the fight should never have been stopped. Yet in jumped Thomas to call it off and having lost his cool in the build-up, lost his focus ahead of the fight, Thompson had now lost his WBO title.
Nelson went to bury the hatched with a hug, but Thompson merely stood there. Nelson left the ring, job done, belt around his waist. But he would not leave the Derby Storm Arena with what he had come for, what he had set out to win and what he had, by his own admission, overstepped the mark to get his hands on. The belt made it back to the dressing room but when one of Thompson's team came in and said Carl wanted his belt back, it was his and was politely told where to go, he did so at speed - but with the WBO belt in hand!
Nelson, Ingle and his team stood in disbelief as the belt vanished before their very eyes. He might have just beaten Thompson, but the champion was not about to go and confront him away from the relative safety of the ring and the Queensberry Rules to keep things civil. The WBO would need to send Nelson a new belt, the same one he would go on to defend 12 times, while Thompson headed back to Manchester with his as well.
Both would box on but they would never let bygones be bygones. Nelson says it was a full five years before they exchanged words and even to this day, it is just the nod of a head when their paths cross.
A rematch never materialised and although Thompson is still the only man to beat David Haye in a professional ring and the man who brought down the curtain on Chris Eubank, he will also always be the man who Johnny Nelson wound up. So much so that he could not bear to let him walk away with that WBO belt.
