The potential of Michael Watson

absolutely. he had great defence, ring smarts and all round boxing ability. always kept a cool head which is an asset at the top table.

he gave a very good account of himself in his first world title shot when fighting the Body snatcher, but the experience was against him. he did learn a lot though in the fight, which could be seen in the Eubank fights. but yeah, it's a shame his career, and his life, were brought crashing down in the Eubank rematch.

his ability to prove the Doctors wrong in terms of recovery just shows the fighting spirit of the man. so yes, he was heading for the top.

 

Wonderful performances against Lee and Benn when he was widely expected to lose those fights and be taken out. He actually completely dominated both of them with different styles. He knew Lee couldn't fight going backwards and that Benn couldn't place a shot or pace a fight. He was impeccable.

Then came the mindless performance against McCallum when Mickey Duff told him to just keep going forward with his hands up non-stop. He was duly picked off with body shots and his 11 months of ring rust showed against a perfectly sharp McCallum. If Jimmy Tibbs had been around for Watson back then he would never have advised a mindless approach. In fact, Tibbs would have never of had him sparring a few days out (Watson broke his nose just before the original date with McCallum six months before they did meet).

The second Eubank fight was a frightening performance as Watson applied intelligent pressure with sharp timing and punched from every angle to the body and head from short distances as he frequently closed the gap, including a stiff overarm right when Eubank wanted to clinch to catch his breath. It took arguably the best punch of all-time to beat Watson that night.

He was only 25 or 26 and Benn and Nunn were being lined up for the winner (of Eubank-Watson II). Toney was also on the horizon. He could've beat them all. Who knows?

 

I love watching Watson take Benn to school. I remember one sequence where Benn loaded up with a ton of shots that were all blocked, and Watson responded with some straight shots that all landed.

It was kind of like Ali-Foreman, with less of it on the ropes (don't believe the revisionist history, Ali was winning throughout the fight).

In the early 90s at 168, I'd pick him over the likes of Iran Barkley and Darren Van Horn. Michael Nunn was hot-and-cold, he never reached his 88-89 peak again, so I find his mythical matchups harder to pick.

I don't like Watson's chances against RJJ. I don't think he beats Toney, who seemed to be more comfortable at 168.

 

People overlook Watson's OFFENSE against Benn that night. He threw body shots from every angle and all sorts of combinations to the head. Watch the 2nd round; Watson hits Nigel with the kitchen sink.

 

Yep. He simply took Benn to school.

 

I disagree, in my view Watson took Benn to school that night ;-)

 

its a mistype I think he means Watson.

 

Watson, was never that good in the first place if you askl me. He lost to james ****ing cook!! That defeat against 33 yr old mccallum was brutal. This was the fight that totally ruined him! The 2nd eubank fight, he expanded a lot off energy due to his aggresive style, which was not in his nature! I, remember this fight very well indeed!

 

Yes he schooled himself lol

 

He's British. Therefore he has no potential. After Turpin the only good british boxer was Lennox - not even full british.

No, Eubank, Calzaghe, Benn, Froch, Hamed, etc all fought weak competition and Calzaghe/Froch got some gifts along the way

 

He lost to Cook 13 days after an all-out war with Carlton ******.

McCallum KO was more exhaustion than brutality.

 

so it was not mikes body punches then? I, saw that fight live on itv man! He was never the same after that.

 

You need your head and eyes tested. He was clearly an improved fighter after that. And even improved dramatically between the two Eubank fights.

If Watson had fought an easy tune-up with Steve Collins and McCallum hadn't fought since Graham, Watson would've beaten Mike M.