I think Kessler vs. Watson deserves a closer look than most are probably inclined to give it. You'll of course have some Boxrec experts without any first hand familiarity with The Force just blindly picking Kessler...and you'll have some overly nostalgic Brits (or those who've only seen Kessler from '08 on) just blindly picking Watson... It's not a bad match-up at all, and aesthetically would be quite a joy to watch for technical purists.
I'm neither Sir. Kessler is under-rated by fans these days. If he can establish range with his jab and keep a good variety with his punches (Use uppercuts and hooks to the body, as opposed to being a robotic 1-2 fighter) then he stands a fantastic chance of beating Watson.
Wasn't accusing you or anyone else. :good Just anticipating the unfortunate reality of the situation, given the preponderance of both aforementioned camps. :!: That he does. At his physical best, he wasn't quite all that diverse, but still a superb technician. Never saw him as robotic, despite utilizing the straight-up 1-2 heavy style that often gets slapped with that label. Watson would certainly be more apt to come "off rails" with his movement, but Kessler at one time possessed insane accuracy and timing - and for all his adherence to the textbook he was often able to surprise opponents (like Mundine) with his ability to pick off & parry their shots or quickly sidestep their trajectory...and he rarely fell for feints. In fact he often counter-feinted, or faked a reaction to one to embolden opponents and create a counter-punching opportunity, something you don't see a lot of. Watson has more variety to his offense, and is masterful at playing possum - so there could be spots where he takes an entire quiver of Kessler's arrows on the gloves while sneaking in shots during the middles or ends of the volleys. His left jab is very nice and surely had snap on it, but I'm not entirely convinced it's a far more useful tool than Kessler's. He's more slippery on the inside and more disposed to go to the body, so it would be interesting to see if he took it there rather than playing to his own chief strength of sharp-shooting from range (also Kessler's). Body punching didn't become incorporated as one of the integral pieces of Kessler's game so much until his comeback period under Montoya. I'd be really interested to see what each man's best right hand could do to the other, and whose excellent chin began to dent first.
Watson does pretty much everything better than Kessler, although Kessler is perhaps bigger at the weight