from BScene forum unofficial version Best overall: Michael Watson. He had the best blocking ability I've seen, and in our second fight kept up the pace of a lightweight with the strength of a cruiserweight for 10 and three-quarter-rounds, which has never been done elsewhere. Best boxer: Graciano Rocchigiani had the best timing with straight shots and out of an airtight defense. Best puncher: By far it was Nigel Benn. Not even a muscled heavyweight on the night in Carl Thompson hit as devastatingly hard. Joe Calzaghe hit me with a clean knockdown early, but I didn't see the shot coming and was laughing in a second or so. Benn pulverized you with any shot where you wanted to cry. Best defense: Watson or Benn, depending on the criteria. For blocking it was Watson, for evading it was Benn. Fastest hands: Benn or Calzaghe, depending on the criteria. For a single shot it was Benn, for a combination of shots it was Calzaghe. Only Roy Jones in his prime was as fast in either criteria of hand speed, ever, pound-for-pound. Fastest feet: The late Tony Thornton was super effective at cutting the size of the ring down. Best chin: Steve Collins took my hardest shots in our second fight, I was able to perfectly pivot my feet on occasion as he came in; a left uppercut, a left hook, a right hand - 'bang!', no effect. He had the best chin and work-rate combination I've seen that night. Best jab: My forte was slipping a jab expressionlessly by a centimeter, but the jab that ever really landed against me more than a couple of times in a fight was that of Rocchigiani, the southpaw. Great timing. He out-jabbed Henry Maske and Michael Nunn. Strongest: Pound-for-pound, Michael Watson. On the night he just seemed to be a Superman, and battered me in every round after the third, until the last second of the 11th. Smartest: Dan Schommer. My word, where did this cat come from? And where did he go? He judged distance and spacing better than any boxer I ever shared a ring with. He was always a centimeter out of range, so when I went to strike I would miss and he would counter every time with a southpaw right hook or southpaw left hand. He would've won world middleweight titles if he wasn't self-managed and dieted better.
Thanks! This feels surprisingly honest for this kind of thing. Like everyone else, he names someone he beat as the best, but at least it seems plausible in this case.
Interestedly didn't Eubank in the immediate post fight interview in the ring, demand that Watson be drug tested because he couldn't believe how strong and relentless he was in the fight? Of course this was before anyone realised how severe a condition Watson was in after the stoppage.
