What a hiding Watson gave Eubank in II

Watson barely landed more than a handful of flush non-jabs in the first fight imo, it was more Eubank's inconsistent sharpness of offence that kept it 50\50.Watson's right hand was much sharper second time around, though it took until circa 7th\8th to really dial it in, with Eubank fading then due to the consistent high-pace set.

 

You think that Watson would get a different result against McCallum?

 

Watson must've been a very strong guy. Given how McCallum talked about that fight, you'd have assumed it was a back-and-forth war and not the schooling that it was.

 

I wonder if it wasn't just that McCallum was declining physically by then.And bullshitting for the Brit boxing press\interviewers at times.There wasn't really much of a notable physical side to that fight.Mostly a technical fight at mid-range like the Kalambay bouts.

Graham, Collins(when he stopped the stick and move gameplan) and Toney in the first fight all seemed to give him more problems physically.

In fact it was Watson that showed physical weaknesses, toiled for stamina and was one of the few fighters to show real discomfort at McCallum bodywork.He basically hit the wall and was stopped from exhaustion more than heavy handed punching.

 

I agree, I always rooted against Eubank in those days, hated the guy (quite like him now tho) I was ****in gutted when Eubank pulled out that win, he showed true heart to hang in there, Watson had that fight won hands down, even without the actual tragedy afterwards I`d still class this as a tragedy for Watson. Complete gutter :-(

 

Only Collins forced him back at times like Watson did, though. Graham gave him trouble with being elusive and awkward, Toney with a superb right hand counter, but Watson was more in the mold of constantly coming forward. Fights like that can be more taxing than they look, even when being outboxed.

Graham and Toney were tougher opponents, though. Perhaps Collins as well.

 

Watson was very strong, but it is typical boxer lingo to give most credit to the guys they beat comfortably.

 

Very true, and almost no credit to the guys that destroyed them.

 

McGrain, Eubank said in an interview he had accepted defeat in the second fight around the half way point and was simply looking to survive.

 

Eubank was most surprised by Watson's ability to take his punches in the 2nd fight, saying he was throwing the kitchen sink at him in the early rounds as hard as he could and Michael wasn't blinking, just continuing to rain in on him and constantly closing the gap. Eubank quit in the 6th round he says and then started to be outboxed, he says.

I thought Eubank won the first fight quite clearly, certainly took the first half-dozen rounds with cleaner, more creative, harder punches and hardly took a punch in the 7th. He went for the single-shot KO in the 9th trying to live up to prediction, and then says his legs cramped in the 10th and that he was there for the taking and how yet Watson didn't take him. It was a poor, plodding performance from Watson, the first Eubank/Watson fight.

 

the massive uppercut that crashed into Watson's jaw after he had been put down by Michael says otherwise though, really.

 

Eubank explains that as soon as his knee touched the canvas in the 11th, a warrior took over from in him and he felt superhuman strength. It's interesting.

 

"Stylistically, Michael Watson is the easiest fight of my career to date. You must understand that boxing is more in the feet than the hands, and his don't move. He turns his shoulders and torso to punch, and he stands stood in the middle of the ring.

"My feet move. I anchor them when I punch, I manueveur and dance, I use the size of the ring. I see this particular match as a mismatch. He's very ordinary. He doesn't counter sharply, though he has a strong right hand, can throw combinations and covers up well in an unorthodox manner.

"If I stood toe-to-toe with him, maybe it would be an even fight. But I won't. I'll out-box him for four to five rounds, then break him down for four rounds and then knock him out for a count of 10 before the 10th.

"He covers up from hooks and body shots particularly well, as Nigel Benn and Mike McCallum found out, but there's a nice little gap to slot in sneak rights and short uppercuts, both of which I am the master of. Winston Burnett who I fought three or four years ago had a more difficult guard than Watson.

"You can't expect to be competitive with such a multiply skilled boxer as me when all you do is stand still with your hands up high. I'm going to humiliate him, beat him up and find the knockout punch in the 8th or 9th."

-Eubank on Watson, May 1990

 

"I most definitely won the first five rounds. My best rounds were the first five.

"I basically needed to.... at first, I was going to out-box him; then I was going to dismantle him, and then knock him out.

"I did the first part of that, but then nothing else came because I ran out of strength.

"In the 10th, my legs were knotting up on me. If he's any kind of the fighter he says he is, it was at that point I was there for the taking."

-Eubank on Watson, July 1990