The way he got through the cute, tight peek-a-boo defences of Rocchigiani (robbed against Maske and Michalczewski after), Thornton (ranked #1 by everyone) and Malinga? Delivering the most perfect of uppercuts to take Watson - who'd been all over him like sauce for 10-11 rounds - despite severe fatigue? Beating Benn without a jab or guard (seemingly impossible)? Beating Wharton toe-to-toe, one of the hardest and most naturally talented punchers out there? Running Thompson close after jumping two weight divisions in one go and having one eye for half the fight? Perhaps the 1st fight with Watson for the subtle skill? Or the clinical finish of Jarvis, for that punch itself? What do we think?
subtle skill against watson in there 1st fight ? i dont think so sonny watson beat his azzz , id say thompson or benn were his best performances
I'd suggest studying it closely with the sound off to appreciate it. He was making Watson miss so much - by barely moving! And hardly anyone can stand still in front of the opponent and counter like Eubank did here without getting nailed - it takes tremendous reflexes. The movement, the timing, the ring generalship - it was all there.
win or loose i dont think you can consider that a better performance than jumping to cruiserweight and giving thompson a close call , you do love eubank though right !
At the time, everyone thought Eubank was there for the taking, but he went on to perform great against Wharton. The first fight with Thompson was awesome, a lot of fans including myself looked at Eubank in a different light after that fight. Remember Thompson went on to fight and beat David Haye. Benn 1 and Watson 2, Eubank had his wars at a very high level.
yeh but thompson significantly outweighed eubank , watson did not , and like i already said watson beat eubank the 1st time around , everyone knows this , oh other than you
Other than the official judges I thought Eubank won rounds 1,2,4,5,8,9 & 10 with 7 even and Watson 3,6,11,12. It must be said 6 & 12 were more a case of Eubank losing the rounds than Watson winning them. To me Watson was completely out-classed that night.
Michael was a beautifully tucked defensive boxer who countered in combinations and had a damaging lead right, he also had a beautiful left jab. But Eubank was always just out of range and Watson had no answer - he couldn't jab him and so couldn't find his range. He couldn't close the gap, so he was walking onto Eubank right hands. Eubank on the other hand had the flexibility to reach Watson with body shots, the ability to step into jabs and rights and get out of the pocket fast. I don't think Michael really knew what to do with him. Sometimes Eubank would step into the pocket just to counter because he knew he had faster reflexes that Watson. It was very impressive. Watson didn't deserve a rematch and only got one because of the public outcry.
Many votes for the original Benn fight, National Exhibition Centre, 1990.... [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7vmZJToM2Y[/ame]