The Fight Before the Fight: When Herbie Hide and Michael Bentt Came to Blows

Herbie Hide and Michael Bentt could not wait to fight each other to such an extent that they didn't even hear the opening bell before throwing the first punch.

On March 18, 1994, the two heavyweights met in the ring at the home of Millwall FC.

The WBO title was on the line, with Bentt having claimed the belt with a stunning first-round win over Tommy Morrison the previous October.

However, months before the actual bout took place, the pair had already come to blows.

A press conference to confirm the date for the clash was staged at the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in London, England, in January.

Those members of the media present got the chance to take pictures of Bentt and Hide, just not quite the ones they had expected to be shooting.

A flashpoint occurred, and things escalated quickly. There were punches, while the two men ended up rolling around on a wet floor outside the building.

Hide, per the Daily Mail's Nick Parkinson, said afterwards: "I went in a puddle, but it was a fall more than the force of the blow."

In an interview with Jimmy Smallwood for BBC Sport, Bentt explained what had triggered the fracas:

"

I was wearing a Millwall baseball cap, who I was supposed to be sponsored by, and the cap flew off of my head. I figured that was strange, as there was no wind.

It turns out that Herbie had taken it upon himself to remove the cap by slapping my head. It was insulting.

In that environment, your emotions are raw, like an open nerve. Egos were exposed and a fighter has to do everything to protect his ego.

We got into a brawl. I slapped him, he grabbed me, I tore my suit, he grabbed me, I fell on my knees, he grabbed me, he punched me. It was an ugly mess.

"

An “ugly mess” perfectly describes what unfolded that day.

According to The Independent, the British Boxing Board of Control ordered an immediate inquiry, while the incident put to the test the idea that any publicity is good publicity. 

Bentt admitted to Smallwood that he was “ashamed” at what went on.

The hotel scrap is probably better remembered than the actual fight itself.

Hide came out on top in March to become world champion, dropping his opponent twice before winning by stoppage late in the seventh round.

For Bentt, born in East Dulwich, London, but raised in Queens, New York, it was the last time he would step between the ropes, at least for the purposes of actually fighting.

Hours after the defeat, he collapsed and was rushed to hospital. He spent the next four days in a coma but recovered.

The brain damage he suffered was thankfully not debilitating, but it did put an end to Bentt’s boxing career.

Still, in just 11 professional fights, he had crammed plenty in, including getting knocked out on his debut and winning a world title. Many boxers don't come close to achieving so much in a decade.

Before he had joined the paid ranks, Bentt had been a successful amateur who claimed two bronze medals at the World Championships competing for the United States.

Bentt has thrown punches since, just not quite in the same way he used to.

He moved into acting and played the role of Sonny Liston in the film Ali directed by Michael Mann. He was back in a ring, though, now someone was telling him exactly when to throw jabs and hooks.

In a 2005 interview with Sean Newman for doghouseboxing.com, Bentt said of the loss to Hide: “In retrospect, it changed my life, because had I won that fight I’d probably still be fighting. I had a relatively young career at that point.”

John Gichigi/Getty Images

Hide, in contrast, took that path, continuing his boxing career until 2010.

He surrendered the WBO strap to American Riddick Bowe in his first defence, though, he won it back in 1997 by beating another fighter from the United States, Tony Tucker.

His second reign as champion lasted a little longer, three fights in fact, before he was brutally taken out inside two rounds by Vitali Klitschko.

Hide never came close to reaching the same heights again.

His last outing was in a Prizefighter tournament, and although he was victorious in his opening bout, he was forced to pull out of the event due to a cut he’d sustained.

In November 2013, Hide was jailed for selling cocaine, as documented in Laura Devlin’s in-depth profile of the boxer for BBC Suffolk. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison, though, that term was later cut by four months on appeal, according to Mike Dawes of the Daily Mail.

The journeys the two men have travelled since they went toe-to-toe 21 years ago are vastly different. They have endured tough fights, both in and out of the ring, since their scuffle outside a London hotel.