Eubank - Watson on ESPN Classic

The refs were supposed to know he was brain damaged? He got hit with a good shot and got up. I saw nothing at the time to make me think he wouldn't have been allowed to continue.

 

Liverpool.......but my mums family are all Everton.

 

When fighters get Hurt like that in a tough gruelling fight....i think its mainly because of rehyadation. Chris Eubank would always drink plenty of water in between rounds, some boxers take little zips and then spit it out.

When you take it less water, your blood volume decreases.....and you may collapse, less blood and Oxygen will be reaching the brain.

Add that you are being hit with power punches by Chris Eubank...it makes this very dangerous.

There was a boxer a journey man sparring man, who got brain damage of years of dehydrating himself to stay and a certain weight.....i once red this article.

 

interesting little fact
did you know the beloved radio 1 dj westwood was a good friend of michael and was the one to go with him in the ambulance. he was quite young back then and had bare short hair and can be seen at ringside and comes in to control one of watsons antourage at the end of the fight.

 

oh so draggin watson to the centre of the ring wasnt enough to stop the fight:huh

 

Really? I never knew that.

Yeah no doubt the ringside care was atrocious. His doctors said that was the longest anyones gone without oxygen with that sort of brain injury & if it wasn't for his supreme fitness he wouldn't have survived.

 

Eubank vs Watson 2 was an amazing fight. The way Eubank comes back from the knockdown with that Uppercut from Hell was superhuman. It is truly a shame that it had to end so tragically. I recently discovered these classic rivalries between Benn, Watson and Eubank. It's a shame that they are not more well known in the States.

 

Also it's worth remembering that Watson was literally miles ahead on the cards going into that last round, all he had to do was stay on his feet to win. Maybe we're being a little hard on his corner and the referee...always easy to be right in hindsight.

 

thing is mate, back then british boxing was like eastenders or coronation street- A BIG THING IN THE UK.

people loved to hate eubank, they wanted to see him lose. they would always find an excuse. there was always controversay regarding eubanks fights etc.
there was controversary in the first fight too.
so if the ref had stopped this fight, it would have been another controversary (i know it wasnt!) ppl would have screamed "fix!"
the only way the fans would have accepted watson losing is the way he lost (by a legit stoppage)

the ref was under a lot of pressure, imo at the time this fight took place (watched in every household) he did the right thing, even tho this fight should not have gone past the 11th.

 

In all honesty - the first time I watched the fight - not knowing the final results - I thought the ref stopped the fight too early. I thought since Watson was still on his feet at the time of stoppage - that he might have been able to rally or survive on his feet until the final bell. I'm saying this honestly as an impartial observer. After seeing Watson collapse and reading about the events after the bout - one realizes that the bout should have been stopped much much sooner. When titles and rivalries are on the line - the referee finds himself in an unenviable position. The referee did the best that he could in such a tough situation.