The Force Part Two: Facing The Dark Destroyer

Michael Watson

Michael Watson never met Nigel Benn in person, he only watched his fights on television and was impressed with his power, but he saw flaws in the ‘Dark Destroyer’ that he felt he could exploit. Watson showed confidence before his March 1989 date with Franklin Owens at the Royal Albert Hall by telling reporters he would beat Benn because of his superior boxing skills and said “No problem” when they asked about dealing with Benn’s firepower. Owens, fighting out of Oklahoma City, retired at the end of round three due to a cut left eye.

 

Watson had met better opposition in his 21-1-1 (17 KOs) than Benn and was rated higher than the Commonwealth middleweight champion in the World Boxing Council rankings, but unlike Benn, Watson was not considered a marquee fighter, and the Benn camp saw Watson as just a stepping stone to a world title shot. However, Watson was sick of being underestimated by all the negative publicity thrown his way from Team Benn. 

 

The animosity thrown Watson’s way was all part of Ambrose Mendy’s - Benn’s flamboyant manager - plan to hype the fight and sell tickets for the 21st of May 1989 held in a Supertent in Finsbury Park. 

 

Mendy described himself as “a true cockney” and was born in Mile End Hospital in the East End of London in August 1954, the fourth of eleven children, and grew up in Hackney.

Young Mendy had a passion for football and was in the youth system at Chelsea Football Club, before getting scouted for West Ham United at the age of sixteen. His professional football never came to fruition as his then-girlfriend became pregnant, and Mendy ended up playing football for teams in local divisions.

 

His best friend was a footballer called Laurence Cunningham, who played for Arsenal as a schoolboy in 1970, before signing for Leyton Orient in 1974 and West Bromwich Albion in 1977. When Spanish giants Real Madrid wanted Cunningham to sign for them, he asked Mendy to go to Spain with him.

 

Mendy ended up negotiating Cunningham’s salary, and on the aeroplane back home both men realised they could have squeezed Real Madrid for more money. This was the catalyst that sent Mendy on the path to become a sports agent.

 

Before Mendy became a force in British sport, he ran a market stall in Islington, selling baby clothes. It was at this time he met up with Frank Warren, who would become Mendy’s Best Man at his wedding in 1986.

 

Mendy’s tenacity allowed him to buy his first Rolls Royce at the age of nineteen, but, three years later, his high-rolling lifestyle soon caught up with him when he was sentenced to six years for, as Mendy put it, “trying to outwit the banking system.” For four of those six years, he was moved around twenty-one times, though he put his time to good use, studying finance and marketing, and attaining thirty-seven diplomas and simultaneous degrees to add to the three A-levels he achieved when leaving school.

 

During his prison sentence, he was still in touch with Frank Warren, and on his release, Warren asked him to join his boxing stable. Mendy collaborated with Warren for three years, dealing with sponsorship and public relations, before leaving on mutual consent.  

 

Mendy set up his World Sports Corporation company and soon represented some of the big names in British sport. On his books, he had footballers Paul Ince, John Barnes, and brothers Justin and John Fashanu, Rugby League’s Ellery Hanley, Olympic sprinter Linford Christie, Terry Marsh and the entire Manchester United team who won the 1991 Cup Winners Cup against Barcelona.

Mendy soon acquired the signature of Nigel Benn, and after a lengthy court case, Benn was allowed to cease his association with promoter and manager Frank Warren and sign with Mendy. This of course ended the friendship between Warren and Mendy and the pair have not spoken since, with Warren believing that Mendy coaxed Benn away from him.

 

The hype train was very much in motion for Benn-Watson, and the challenger had a dislike for the champion because of the animosity generated by Mendy, though Benn had a respect for Watson, he believed the Islington man was not in his league.

 

Watson was also fed up with being underestimated and believed his own manager, Mickey Duff, was reluctant to sign him to the Benn contest, as he did not think Watson could win. His trainer, Eric Seacombe, also had his reservations, and this spurred the challenger on even more to prove his own team wrong.

 

Benn was born on 22nd January 1964, and took up boxing when he joined the army. The reason for taking up the sport was to get out of normal army duties, plus he was allowed to wake up at 8:30 am, instead of 5:45 am, and he was fed steaks, rather than the obligatory slops.

 

Benn remained undefeated in the army, and when he left, boxing became his calling after a short stint as a security officer looking after a huge amount of money in an armoured vehicle. Benn flew through the amateur circuit before tasting his first defeat at the hands of seasoned amateur Rod Douglas.

 

The following year, Benn got his chance for revenge and met Douglas again for the 1986 ABA London division, which was part of the ABA national championship. Benn floored Douglas twice on his way to a points decision. He went on to defeat Gloucester’s Johnny Melfah in the ABA final to become champion.

Winning the ABAs gave Benn the opportunity to represent England at the July 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. Benn was kicked out of the squad for allegedly missing the first training session. The selectors picked Rod Douglas to take Benn’s place (Douglas eventually won Gold). 

 

Benn, in disgust at the selector’s decision, turned professional and stopped Graeme Ahmed in the second round on 28th January 1987. Benn stopped his next fifteen opponents before challenging Ghana’s Abdul Umara Sanda for the vacant Commonwealth title on 20th April 1988.

 

Benn made the first defence of his title against Jamaica’s Anthony Logan on 26th October. Logan was the best opponent Benn had faced by far and was floored in the opening round. A stunned champion, on the verge of defeat, produced a massive left hook to relieve Logan of his senses in round two. Benn made a further two defences of his crown and went 22-0 (22 KOs) with a second-round knockout over Mbayo Wa Mbayo, before making the fourth defence of his title against Michael Watson.

 

When Watson signed for Duff in 1984, the manager was at the top of his game; fast forward to 1989, and Watson hardly recognised the man that signed him. Duff was continually getting wound up by Mendy’s antics and Watson was increasingly getting frustrated by the way his manager was handling his career. Watson believed he was moving too fast for Duff, and the fact he had little faith in Watson beating Benn also rankled.

The fight, held on a Sunday night, had around 6,700 spectators crammed into the Supertent, which was used during Stevie Wonder’s European leg of his world tour. Benn received a purse of £150,000 and was a three-to-one betting favourite, whilst Watson’s odds of winning were nine-to-four. Both boxers weighed on the middleweight limit of 160 pounds (72.57 Kg) on the day of the contest.

 

Watson sat in his changing room, in his own world, feeling calm. He believed he could hear thunder from outside, but he soon realised it was the noise of the crowd. The calmness in his locker room soon changed when Duff realised Mendy was selected from Benn’s team to witness Watson getting his hands wrapped.

 

Each camp will send in a member of the opposing team to oversee the hand-wrapping procedure. The unwritten rule is that the opposing member remains silent during the process. Mendy, who was always pleasant to Watson, failed to keep quiet. Duff was infuriated and screamed at the British Boxing Board of Control official, who had no clue what to do.

 

The crowd in the Supertent created a mixture of feverish excitement, noise, and heat. Watson entered the ring wearing a blue robe trimmed with gold. He could pick out the words from the fans, some positive, some derogatory, but as he stepped through the ropes, he received the biggest cheer of his career so far. 

 

Duff, before the fight, warned Team Benn that if the champion was not in the ring within two minutes of Watson getting in there, then he would take the challenger back to the changing room. Duff did not have to wait long, as an air-raid siren could be heard throughout the Supertent, as Benn’s old battalion of Royal Fusiliers walked towards the ring to give their ex-comrade a guard of honour to the ring.

 

Benn came out to Conroy Smith’s Dangerous, and the crowd took the excitement up a few notches. The champion sported a new weaved hairstyle, with some reports, depending on which tabloid you read, saying he took six to twelve hours on the day of the fight getting his hair done. Other reports suggested that Benn went AWOL the day before the contest. Watson would later say that the story made no sense, and he believed it was just another story generated by Ambrose Mendy to promote the fight.

 

The crowd booed when MC Mike Goodhall introduced Watson and they cheered loudly when Benn was announced, clearly showing who the fans were rooting for. There was more at stake than just Benn’s Commonwealth championship; both were highly rated with the WBC, Benn at four and Watson at three, and the winner would take a step closer to challenging for a world title.

 

Benn, as in his twenty-two previous contests, came out firing, looking to land a concussive bomb on Watson’s jaw. The challenger covered up well and countered the champion’s mistakes. Benn took the opening round on sheer aggression, but Watson’s shrewd defence prevented him from taking anything flush and he managed to land some solid, accurate punches. Both fighters glanced at the other at the bell, before returning to their respective corners. Both Mickey Duff and Eric Seacombe were concerned about Watson’s tactics. “Stop trading with him,” urged Duff, “Move, move, move.” 

The champion continued his assault in the second round as Watson countered from his peek-a-boo guard. Benn’s pace dropped in round three, and, with some daylight between them, the challenger was able to get his jab and right hand working. 

 

Benn landed a solid left to start the fourth as he continued to headhunt and ignore Watson’s unprotected body. The challenger rode out the storm and retaliated with an attack of his own, forcing the Commonwealth champion to the ropes. Benn, in his recklessness, showed utter contempt for his opponent’s power as he allowed Watson to hit his unprotected head, before firing back like a wounded animal, sending Watson to the ropes as he unleashed leather. 

 

The crowd were loving the action as a stunned champion was forced to give ground once again. As Benn hit the ropes he retaliated with another big, wild attack to have Watson on the retreat. At the bell to end the frantic fourth both fighters exchanged looks before Benn gently tapped Watson on the back out of appreciation. It was at this moment that the challenger knew he had the beating of his man.

 

Benn’s ferocious pace had sapped his energy as he looked tired in the fifth. The champion was still dangerous with his wild haymakers, but he was giving up ground too willingly whilst Watson was having the best round of the fight.

 

Both fighters traded to start round six and it was Benn who came forward. Then Watson unleashed a salvo of punches and the champion turned away clutching his eye. Referee John Coyle gave Benn a quick talking-to before getting the boxers to continue. Benn ate a few jabs before exploding off the ropes into action with some wild right-handers. Watson had his back to the ropes as they traded punches before an exchange of jabs sent Benn falling on his back to the canvas. “He’s gone,” said Reg Gutteridge to the millions tuned in on ITV. “The big hitter has been hit.”

Benn started to rise at the referee’s count of nine, but Coyle counted him out at the one-minute and 34 seconds mark of the sixth. To be fair to Benn, he went straight over to the new Commonwealth champion to congratulate him.

 

Watson later said that he respected Benn so much that he trained like a maniac. “I expected Nigel to make an explosive start,” said Watson, “but never realised how fast he is. I felt the power of his punches on my gloves and I knew I couldn’t take the risk of dropping my guard for a second. I knew I had to bide my time and, although I was dazed for a moment in the third round, I never let him land a clean shot on my chin. I did resent it that Nigel was getting all the publicity when I knew I was the better man. But I’ve got to hand it to him that, without Nigel and his image, I wouldn’t have got this fight or the fortune that goes with it.”

 

Jim Rosenthal, who was interviewing Watson in the ring, said: “You surprised a few people, Mike.” 

 

“He surprised me,” blurted out Duff, giving Watson all the proof, he needed that his manager had no confidence in him dethroning the big punching Benn.

All the best fight fans

Lea

Boxing Books are available on Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, Smash Words, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, and most other digital stores: https://linktr.ee/leroy_fight_writer