Eubank v Watson 2, Eubank looked gone until he landed that uppercut

Not hindsight Ryan. Watson was gone. He was barely responsive in the corner. It's a bugbear of mine so I conceded that I maybe banging on but boxers pay their corner men to protect them. A good example of judgement was when Mickey Eames pulled Graeme Earl out against Katsidis. He almost certainly saved Graeme from serious damage.

 

Fair enough, you seem far more knowledgeable on the matter than me as a layperson. Watching it I wouldn't have seen it coming but then cornermen should probably be held to higher standards. Tragic either way. What a fighter Michael Watson has continued to be though. Amazing man and was a fantastic boxer.

 

Agreed mate. A wonderfully selfless and dignified man.

 

Amazing speech in its entirety.

but from around 9:25 for those with a burnt out attention span

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It was a great fight until that 11th round, and there is no way on earth he should have been allowed back out for the 12th, it was clear for all to see that Watson was very badly hurt, JT should have pulled it.

If you watch the beginning of round twelve, the ref RF had to lead Watson to the centre and his legs were all over the place, the ref should have stopped it at this point also.

And even when Watson was stopped a certain cornerman was still protesting and saying he was fine...

Disgraceful in my opinion, both on the corners part and the referees Watson should not have been allowed to continue.

 

It wasn't clear for all to see that he was badly hurt.
Even after he collapsed people were saying it was due to exhaustion.
The referee may have interpreted Watson's failure to come to the centre of the ring as part of his refusal to shake hands with Eubank.

It's easy to view it differently with hindsight.

 

It wasn't clear, are you serious?

People were saying it was exhaustion, they always do...

Before the end of the 11th it was clear he was very badly hurt, it was also mentioned in the commentary how bad he was hurt etc etc

No hindsight needed I have seen enough fights over the decades to know he should have been pulled.

 

If people say that it's exhaustion that has caused a fighter to collapse then they, by definition, are failing to recognise that the fighter is badly hurt.

The commentators (who have been known to dramatise things occasionally) said Watson was in desperate trouble during the 11th round but was he? I certainly don't think he was.

From what I saw, Eubank landed a right hand and Watson weathered the subsequent storm by dodging Eubank's swings and when he had apparently tired himself out, Watson came back at him and knocked him down.

I don't think Watson was in trouble at any stage of that round until Eubank threw the uppercut.

 

How Watson was ever allowed come out for the 12th is beyond me.

 

Think people being harsh on tibbs etc. Eubank looked almost as gone in the previous round. One minute he was out of it...the next he,d knocked watson down. If they we,re pulling their fighters out everytime they looked gone back then....they,d have probably had to stop half their big fights. These guys had too much pride for their own good.

Wish they had stopped it to save watson the pain hes went through....and obviously in hindsight it should have been stopped. But dont think tibbs etc are at fault tbh...no one could have foreseen what transpired. Watson was hurt....but winning the fight....and eubank looked finished the round before. At the end of the day health comes before everything....a lot more than a boxing match....but no one could foresee whst happened next. Eubank looked completely finished the round before before firing back. Watson didnt look much more gone than eubank was.

If its any consolation not sure that last round caused michael any more suffering....the damage had already been done. Great fighter and man. Mind reading his book.

 

Eubank proved himself a truly great fighter with that. NEITHER man was the same again. Still remember the hate in the rammed pub for Eubank, it was shoulder to shoulder and everyone was calling him every name under the sun and cheering for every shot Watson landed. After the finish, there was hidden respect for Eubank among them.

Watson was told by doctors he had no chance of ever walking again. He completed the London Marathon. He fought tooth and nail in his rehab, night and day and astounded all 'experts' - that's the fighting spirit of boxers not found in textbooks.

 

Has this just been moved from Classic to British forum?

 

So much wrong with this post.

You didn't know he was brain damaged. Nobody could. Not Jimmy Tibbs or Roy Francis, nobody.

And it was the impact of the perfect uppercut to the chin that did the damage. That was a HUGE shot, the force is beyond your comprehension.

 

27m30s Bunce nails this

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