How good was he? And if it wasn't for the tragic event that cut short his career how far would he have gone? I recently watched his fight against Benn again. I had forgotten how great that fight was. Watson looked amazing, world class even. Some of the shots he took from Benn would have knocked out heavyweights. Yet he shrugged them off and boxed beautifully to win by KO. Also his fights against Eubank may show L's next to them but that is very misleading. I had him just about winning the first and he would have won the 2nd decisively if it wasn't for the tragic climax. He was an excellent smooth boxer with a defensive style that sorta reminded me of Floyd Patterson. The only blotches on his record are: a loss to McCallum (no shame in that) and a points loss to James Cook earlier in his career. So just how good was he?
Watson was a good fighter, who had too much experience for a crude and young Benn. He also had the work rate to cause Eubank trouble; and had a fine win over a just past his best Don Lee. But when he met true class in McCallum he was out of his depth...
i always thought they seemed to change watson round from being an excellent counter puncher up to the benn fight to a more offensive go forward fighter when he fought mcCallum,which i think just didn't suit him.against a great counter puncher like mcCallum they went for the old "you must rip the title from the champion" routine which considerably lessened his chances of winning,he just wasn't half as effective when going forward like that and although a brave attempt he shipped a lot of punishment and played right into mcCallums hands.it might have been a duller fight but he would have had a better chance if he'd made mike come forward more.he continued in more or less the same vein after that and although he possibly beat eubank in the 1st fight and was leading in the 2nd i just think he was a better fighter up to and including the benn fight.
