Jim Watt Vs Sean O'Grady

A bit of boxing trivia, IIRC Stanley Christodoulou was the first ref to have reffed world title fights in every weight division.

 

I heard he was a bit of a bigoted ould fecker who tried to stir **** up prior to the Nash and the O'Grady fights.

I am too young to remember - any truth?

 

Some of us remember Joe "Old Bones" Brown dropping the nut on Dartford's Dave Charnley in Houston for the world lightweight title. It all evens itself out. Jim Watt could not really lose in Glasgow. Opponents froze (Howard Davis) or began to feel sorry for themselves over the lengthy 15-round course (Sean O'Grady). Watt was a brilliant thinking man's fighter who loved those 15-rounders. He is very much an underrated fighter, incredibly strong for such a wiry build. Remember he gave a peak Ken Buchanan a hard tussle. He also sparked John H. Stracey inside a round in the amateurs. Hey, Jim might even have found a way to beat Arguello in Glasgow! The Nicaraguan's camp made sure the fight took place in a different country (Dunky will chuckle at that, or nod his head).
I still remember, with a bit of a shudder, the look Watt gave Davis at the weigh-in to their 1979 world lightweight title fight. Davis had labelled Watt "Jim Who?" in the preceding months and essentially labelled him a phoney of a world champ. Mickey Duff (and his infamous Cartel) pulled off a coup by outbidding the Wacko Twins to get the fight here (with an enormous bid) and when the photographers asked for a staredown, Watt turned to Davis and looked at him like he literally wanted to kill him. It was such a 'hard' stare, Davis had to turn away, literally turn away. I've never really believed in all that pre-fight crap winning you a fight, and I still don't, but Davis was already beginning to feel like Ernie Terrell.
Incidentally, I saw Watt and O'Grady laughing and joking at ringside in the States in 1986 (at the Honeyghan-Curry show). Michael Buffer introduced Watt as Jim Scot from Wattland. That's a true story.

 

Sorry, mate, you've raised one of the biggest myths in boxing (especially among the Yanks). Watt was ahead on all three cards. He boxed O'Grady's ears off, then picked up a shocking cut (yes, he was also cut) and decided to even the score with the Glasgow Kiss.

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bennie, do you remember all the hoo-hah ,well before the fight about o,grady's dad having his own referee.
o'grady was unbeaten till he got in with danny lopez and got battered.then he went on another winning streak with his dads referee in tow.
in glasgow before the fight the o'grady camp said they'd been threatened by protestant extremists which later turned out to be a load of crap.
the first thing i noticed about the actual fight was how big o'grady looked compared to little pale skinned watt.o'grady looked like a welterweight compared to watt and when watt got cut it looked like the referee would have to stop the fight.
i don't think the yanks expected somebody as innocent looking as watt to posess such dirty tricks.the head butt was a ******* and much more subtle than dave 'boy' green's on stracey.
yep, jim was a tough un' all right

 

Someone stuck O'Grady in a Celtic Shirt for a pre-fight photo (now, I wonder who that could have been?). O'Grady then received a death threat (a letter I've had the misfortune to read) but O'Grady himself was not bothered and it was only his team (yes, his fat old man) who started bleating, particularly when they got back to the States.
O'Grady possessed the coldest of cold eyes but Watt proved colder and better.

 

Buchanan was robbed in this fight for a shot at Jim Watt's WBC lightweight title. Even Harry Mullan, who was virtually in love with Nash, had Buchanan ahead. Kenny deserved the shot at Watt (in an all-Scotland superfight), a man he had beaten a few years earlier when Watt was inexperienced.
Life stinks.

 

watt was our most understated champ and pushed ken buchanan all the way in a british title fight.he was a hard ****er.
roberto vasquez certainly thought so

 

It should be said that O'Grady could really fight, too. Just a few months after losing to Watt for the WBC belt, he pounded Kronk star Hilmer Kenty for the WBA belt, dropping him twice.
You know, O'Grady was chucked in with the huge-punching Danny Lopez (by his stupid dad) when he was about 17 (seriously). Nobody could believe it in LA, where Lopez was based and where the fight took place. O'Grady was a brave kid with a braver father.

 

Watt was a decent fighter, better than decent, but he was a dirty ****

 

i remember it.i also remember reading words of encouragement from lopez.he was/is class

 

i don't think he was that dirty.

 

Boxrec has all the scores in favour of o'grady for some reason