When he fought Malinga in the very next fight after Watson II, he had him down in the 5th or 6th round. I seem to remember him standing off, posing like he was renowned for doing anyway, but it struck me then that he'd lost some of that instinct to take a man out.
watching eubank vs thompson 1 now. took a few strong shots already and gave a few as well. how do you think he would done against the haye who lost to thompson?
He would've beat him quite handily. Haye was mad green, with hardly any technique or smarts. A Eubank counter right hand would've had him doing the stanky leg. Dave at that time was bambi before she met thumper.
Basically, i mean that he was a compact puncher. He didn't push his punches, he snapped them. Eubank didn't put all eggs into one basket when throwing a punch. 'No back lift' means punching properly, by transfering your energy from your body to your arms, and punching from the hip. It's not cocking your punches too much, it's not stretching your chest and stiffening your arm too much, which causes you to swing more. It's punching with technique, not energy. Think of it as like pulling back an elastic band. The further you pull it, the more your arm pulls back, the more wasted motion there is. Another example is, imagine using a whip and a bat to strike something. A cracking whip is gonna be more relaxed, fluid and faster. The bat however, requires more wing action, more stiffness, less of a snap motion and hence more back lift.
Eubank has a bit of Ray Leonard in him in terms of smartness and durablity. Benn seems to be favored over him by the casual fans in Britain. His come forward aggressive style and power are part of the reasons. The general public were always going to warm to him over Eubank due to the personality aspect of their rivalry too. However, I prefered Eubank's style. A boxer, a mover, a counter-puncher, a thinker.... He did well when past his prime against a hungry Calzaghe. Benn wasn't the same after the McClellan win. You could argue that Eubank wasn't the same after the Collins defeats. However, while past his prime he showed he could hang in there with the likes of Calzaghe and Thompson. Steve Collins would have been beaten by Eubank and Benn in the early 90's. Anyone else think the same?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/12/michael-watson-london-marathon-boxing Good article on Watson.
I was always a Eubank fan. To me Benn & Watson were just the alternative to for the people who didn't like Eubank, and so would rep Benn & Watson cause they wanted to see him beat. Where other people used to criticize him and jeer him I used to admire him for his charisma. I couldn't understand why so many peopled disliked him to be honest. Eubank has always been an articulate guy so you knew the perceived arrogance was just confidence imo.