Michael Nunn vs Michael Watson At MW

Nunn takes this one easily, probably by late round KO.

 

I came close to picking watson, but ultimately I think Nunn would egde this in a 7-5 decision on the cards.

 

Nunn fairly easily on pts, too skilled and slick for Watson.

 

Best against best, Nunn would be too quick, mobile and busy for Watson(say the one from the Eubank fight) who was pretty flat footed at the weight and liked to counter if he could.

Might look quite like the Tate fight, except the more technically astute Watson probably doesn't get quite as befuddled as Tate did.He'd take his fair share of Nunn's combos on the arms and gloves, but get outlanded and outmaneuvered.Near shut out.

Coked up post Kalambay Nunn(the one that could actually have fought Watson as a reasonable opponent) rarely fought for a full 3 mins a round, needed his rests and liked to present himself as a target on the inside and at mid-range so he could tie up and showboat defensively would struggle much more. like he did against Starling, only Watson has the punch and workrate to hurt him.Likely builds up a big lead then starts getting tagged more and pegged back later on, but not enough to gas and get KO'd like he did against Toney.Wins an 8-4 sort of decision.

 

Nunn by ud

 

Against Nunn in his pomp, Watson's victory is hearing the final bell. Nunn Wu12 (9-3 ish)

 

Nunn was a class above Watson.

He wins a rather wide UD.

 

Watson is sickengly underrated on this forum. Watson was a masterful boxer who gave Chris Eubank a boxing lesson. He also holds a win over Nigel Benn.
Prime Nunn was also a master boxer. I see it as a 50:50 fight but I go with Watson

 

Nunn wins on points.

 

Who do you like? The consistent and solid technician or the quicker, more athletically gifted southpaw?

This would be a close matchup with both men having their moments. I'll take Nunn to keep Watson chasing. I'll take Nunn and Watson to be able to take each others shots, although there wouldn't be much in the way of damaging shots landed due to Watson's guard and Nunn's evasive abilities. And I'll take Nunn to do the better work and win a 7-5 decision.

 

Did not see this. I have no doubt if it's the best Watson Vs the Nunn of the Moochy fight then Nunn gets stopped late. Starling was pressing the fight late and having little bother catching Nunn's ***** flap offence.

Okay, Starling was gifted defensively while Watson was just very well-schooled and tight, but he's also bigger and, as you say, has the punch to do more.

That's not the thread, but if you were trying to find a version of Nunn to lose to B+ contenders, this might well be the fight. Didn't look like the deity he was made out to be against Barkley either.

 

No, Watson was a nice bloke, who post Benn gained a lot of support. As the hero he had two fights with the ultimate pantomime villain in Eubank.

Watson after beating Benn, was thought capable of beating the aging McCallum, and yet Watson was shown to be out of his depth.

But he got a fight with Eubank, because of his popularity. Fight one was close, most had Watson edging it, and he rightly got a rematch. Fight two was arguably his best performance for 10 rounds and 2 and a half minutes. But sadly what happened next, put boxing in perspective.

Over twenty years on, Watson deserves to be judged on what he did, not what could of been. Watson was an excellent domestic fighter, who showed he could be world class, but was not quite good enough to beat the very best of his era. Like McCallum and Eubank, Nunn in his prime was 'the very best'; thus the sort of level Watson always failed against.

 

Nunn never fought consistently well for a full fight again(and never looked in the best shape) at 160 after the kalambay KO imo, some of the early Toney rounds were about the best he looked.

It's telling he had been somewhat written off as a potential pfp 1 and the hype scaled significantly back on what it was circa Tate-Kalambay by the time of the Toney bout.That was only such a massive upset because of Toney's own obscurity.Being picked as a safe hoemcoming defence for Nunn.

Then after it he goes up to 168, looks not in the best shape and gets a gift against Cordoba.He fell away pretty quickly once the dedication went and unlike Toney, never really got it back.Though the obliteration of the inept Guthrie was enjoyable.

 

I think it would be easier to just describe Watson as a very good fighter who had his career cut short before his level could be fully analysed.

He was obviously world class and among the best 10 middles\super middles on the planet when he was uppercutted by Eubank, but being very good world class and able to beat the very best of your era in a traditional weightclass can often be quite a gap.