It has been over 20 years since longtime boxing photographer Teddy B. Blackburn began assisting former middleweight champion Gerald ?G-Man? McClellan, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in his 1995 bout against Nigel Benn.
Blackburn, an Ann Arbor, Michigan, native, first met McClellan at the fabled Kronk Gym in Detroit. Under the stewardship of the late, great Emanuel Steward, McClellan seemed destined for middleweight greatness while Blackburn fought as an amateur and retired after a loss to hard-punching future pro contender Booker T. Word.
?Gerald was my favorite fighter,? said Blackburn. ?He was a lot of people?s favorite fighter. He could be surly, but we clicked. Besides watching him fight, one of my favorite memories is playing pool with him in Los Angeles. I used to joke that I let him win, but he could shoot.?
The eternally loyal Blackburn never forgot his friend, even after he incurred horrific permanent injuries in the Benn fight.
McClellan, who between 1988 and 1995 compiled a record of 31-3 (29 KOs), is blind, 80 percent deaf, and is unable to speak in a coherent manner. He is confined to his home in Freeport, Illinois, totally dependent on the assistance of his family.
Blackburn organized several fundraisers early on and in 2005 published a book of photography called ?In the Other Corner: A Tribute to Gerald McClellan.? The book sold for $50 and all the proceeds were donated to the McClellan family.
For his herculean efforts, Blackburn was presented with the 2002 Good Guy Award and the 2005 Long and Meritorious Service to Boxing Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).
CNN produced a 2007 feature on McClellan and Blackburn that, to date, has been viewed 1.27 million times on You Tube.
Blackburn, a former Bronx resident who now resides near Muhammad Ali?s old training facility in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, had not seen McClellan?s primary caretaker, sister Lisa McClellan, in about seven years.
When she recently told him that McClellan was being honored at the Ring 10, Veteran Boxers Association annual extravaganza in the Bronx on September 29, he half-heartedly told her he lived just minutes off the interstate. If she had ?10 rounds? to spare, she should stop in for a visit on the way to the Bronx.
Blackburn was drawn to tears when a two-car caravan pulled into his yard this past Saturday and he realized the G-Man had come to visit.
?The champion of the world was in my driveway,? said Blackburn. ?I was overcome with emotion; I called my neighbors over to say hello. They were happy to meet the champ.?
Blackburn said that the G-Man looked great, despite being about 40 pounds over his fighting weight. He still had the iron-gripped handshake and strong hug that Blackburn remembered so well. After some prompting from Lisa, Gerald managed to laboriously repeat Blackburn?s first and last name several times.
?I pushed him in his wheelchair, and we communicated as best we could,? said Blackburn. ?I have such fond memories of Gerald from before he got hurt?and after. Being able to help him was an honor for me.?
The McClellan party stayed for about 30 minutes?or in Blackburn parlance?10 rounds. Blackburn has been walking on air ever since.
?I was so happy to see Gerald and Lisa, who is as much of a champion as he is,? he explained. ?It is great to see how committed Lisa and the family is to him after all these years.
?And I can?t thank Matt Farrago, the President of Ring 10 enough for not forgetting him,? continued Blackburn. ?Although Gerald has physical and mental limitations, he still has a championship heart.?
Blackburn says he is semi-retired and the last boxing event he photographed was Muhammad Ali?s funeral in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2016.
?For 25 years I traveled the world to photograph boxers in action,? he said. ?To have a world champion come to me after all these years warmed my soul. The way I?m feeling right now, Gerald brought me out of retirement.?
