The Force Part Five: The People's Champion

 

Michael Watson

Chris Eubank’s controversial points decision over Michael Watson was met with a public outcry, and many believed the challenger had done enough to secure victory. The rematch was set for 21st September 1991 at Tottenham Hotspurs White Hart Lane for the vacant WBO super-middleweight title.

 

It had been widely documented that both boxers were struggling to make the middleweight limit, and Eubank vacating his title was seen as an overdue move. Ed Levine, the WBO president, was happy to sanction Eubank-Watson 2 for the belt left vacant when Thomas Hearns moved up to light-heavyweight and captured Virgil Hill’s WBA title in June 1991.

 

Levine felt the closeness of Eubank-Watson 1 warranted a rematch for the middleweight title, but when the champion decided to move up a division, it became a ready-made fight to fill their super-middleweight vacancy. “I’ve just watched a videotape of the fight,” said Levine from his Miami offices, “and I had it a draw - and I was a world-class judge for eight years. 

 

“But at least two of the rounds you had to be at ringside to judge, so those rounds could have gone either way and that means the fight could have gone either way.

 

“A lot of Watson’s jabs, when you watched closely, weren’t landing. I had it six rounds each and I can’t fault the judges for their scoring.”

Watson was also happy to move up a division, saying: “He can run but he can’t hide. I don’t mind giving away a few pounds. I’d fight him if he went to light-heavyweight.” And on the fact he did not press Eubank in their first encounter, he answered: “I just wanted to go out and give him a boxing lesson, to show him I’m not just a straight-ahead fighter, and I think I achieved that.

 

“I thought I had the fight won. My corner told me I was winning comfortably and not to take chances. But next time I’ll be more positive. It’s all down to experience.

 

“I had personal problems on the day of the fight but I don’t want to talk about them. I wasn’t at my best. If I fought the way I did against Mike McCallum, I’d have beaten Eubank. 

 

“Next time, Eubank is going to be in for a thorough beating. I want to carve my initials on his forehead. You saw the best of Eubank that night, and he has the cheek to say he was only fifty percent.

 

Chris Eubank’s trainer, Ronnie Davies, verified his man was out of sorts going into the first fight. “Chris definitely wasn’t at his best. He was bothered by injuries in training and then there was the problem losing weight.

“Chris suffered a chest injury in sparring with Simon Collins about ten days before the fight. It was a bad bruise and he couldn’t train as hard as he normally does. So, this made it more of a problem for him to make the weight.

 

“Then, three days before the fight, he put his neck out. I was up with him till 6 o’clock on the morning of the fight massaging his neck, and even Barry Hearn didn’t know how bad it was. But you can’t pull out, can you?”

 

For the rematch, Watson decided to keep Jimmy Tibbs on as his main trainer and got rid of his long-term trainer Eric Secombe, meaning it was the first time Secombe would not be in his corner since his amateur days. Tibbs brought in a young trainer called Dean Powell as his assistant and they trained at the West Ham Amateur Boxing gym.

 

The build-up to the rematch brought out a strong and mutual dislike, with Eubank storming out of one of the press conferences, after calling Watson a whining child. After six weeks of bitterness, the final press conference was subdued and even polite.

 

A cold breeze gusted through White Hart Lane as Watson walked to the ring with LL Cool J’s I’m Gonna Knock You Out pumping through the ground’s speakers. The song didn’t faze Eubank, he just felt disrespected by it. He was shocked at the hatred that was spewed towards him by most of the 22,000-strong crowd, with the football hooligan element very much present.

 

Although many believed Watson should have waited a little longer before tackling Eubank again - the rest after his tough fights with Mike McCallum and Eubank would have helped Watson - this did not stop the man from Islington, known mainly for being a counterpuncher, from setting a fast pace from the opening bell. 

 

Eubank initially coped with the pressure, boxing well and picking his punches, as reflected in two of the three judges’ scoring who had Eubank up 20-18 after two rounds. Watson’s high-intensity tactics of staying close and not allowing Eubank to fight at his own pace and slow the action began to take its toll. He was punching with both hands to head and body and by the fourth round, Eubank, by his own admission, was ‘in survival mode’ and cut over his left eye.

 

By the fifth round, Watson was reddened around the eyes, but he was forcing his adversary to fight at a faster pace than he wanted. Watson was fully committed and at times looked vulnerable as he lunged in recklessly. Still, Eubank’s punches carried power as he steadied Watson with a right hand, though this did not deter Watson as he continued to go all-out and take the fifth on two of the judges’ cards. 

 

Each boxer slipped to the canvas in the sixth, though Watson was having an excellent round, slamming rights to the head and attacking the body, forcing Eubank to almost turn sideways as he thudded in a right down below. 

 

Going into the seventh, British judge Dave Parris had the fight 60-54 in Watson’s favour with Puerto Rico’s Nelson Vazquez agreeing with a card of 58-56, whilst America’s Frank Brunette could not split the fighters with 56-56 apiece. Watson continued to nail Eubank with rights to the head and a retaliatory right uppercut failed to stop the Londoner’s surge. At one point in the round, Eubank turned away amateurishly as if he had run out of ideas of how to stop Watson’s constant pressure.

 

To Eubank’s credit, he did have a better eighth, countering Watson effectively and jolting his man with a right, as reflected in judges Parris and Vazquez awarding him the round. Watson stormed back in the next round, ignoring his bleeding nose, and attacked Eubank’s body and slammed in some decent rights to the head.

 

In round ten a solid left from Eubank appeared to slow Watson down before he continued his assault. He was effective at rolling and ducking under Eubank’s punches and a right uppercut from Watson wobbled the Brighton fighter and he looked the more tired of the two, as the judges unanimously scored the tenth in Watson’s favour.

 

Eubank was tired and well behind on the judges’ cards going into the penultimate round, but he mustered his warrior spirit and rallied to jolt his opponent with a right to the jaw, before thrashing him to the ropes and flailed away with some big winging punches. Watson masterfully covered up and shook his head as if to say “Nothing!”, as Eubank continued to punch wildly and miss the target, allowing Watson to duck and move away. Eubank looked confused by fatigue as he missed with a wild left hook and found himself leaning over the ropes and looking into the crowd.

 

It was Watson’s turn to fire back and he crashed rights to the head, followed by a few left hooks before finding success with his right hand again until Eubank wilted and dropped to his knees. As ever, the durable Eubank hauled himself up at the count of two.

 

British referee Roy Francis, a fifty-seven-year-old security guard at Hatton Garden Jewellery Centre, did not impose the mandatory eight count as mandated under the rules of the World Boxing Organisation. He later explained: “While I didn’t count eight, if you look at the video, you’ll see Eubank had a good eight or nine seconds after being knocked down. I heard the timekeeper count six and I told Eubank to wipe his gloves on his trunks. So, he had his time.”

 

Eubank walked across the ring and suddenly, and unexpectedly, landed a huge right uppercut, thrown in frustration, exhaustion, resolve and instinct, right through the relaxed guard of Watson, knocking him down. His head violently crashed into the ropes. He got up dazedly as Francis checked him over closely and was on the verge of halting proceedings when the bell rang to end a dramatic round. Francis asked twice if he was okay, and Watson responded “Yes” on each occasion.

 

Francis admitted he did not check on Watson during the 60-second intermission, saying: “I didn’t go to the corner to check on Watson because when he’s in the corner he’s their responsibility. They only have a minute to work on the fighter and don’t need a referee getting in the way.” 

 

Jimmy Tibbs worked frantically on Watson, though he came out for the final round still stunned from the effects of Eubank’s right uppercut. Instead of going to the centre of the ring to touch gloves, an obligatory custom to start the final round, Watson waited in his corner until Francis grabbed him by the elbow and led him towards Eubank. 

 

Eubank attacked from the get-go and forced Watson to the ropes. He still had the instinct to defend himself, but he was not throwing anything back, which brought the referee’s intervention. “I’d had a good look at Watson on the ropes at the end of the eleventh,” said Francis, “and I kept my eye on him in the last round. He had a minute’s rest and maybe another ten seconds by the time they touched gloves - I wasn’t rushing anybody.

 

“As soon as I saw he wasn’t fighting back, I stepped in. If you noticed, I was starting to move closer to the fighters in the last few rounds because I could see they were getting tired.”

 

At the time of the intervention, some ringsiders felt the stoppage was premature, as did Watson’s corner, but Watson himself soon collapsed from what his handlers at first believed to be exhaustion.

 

Three of the British Boxing Board of Control’s doctors hurried into the ring to assess the stricken boxer and it was soon realised that Watson had not collapsed from exhaustion, it was because of a brain injury. Watson was quickly removed from the ring and rushed by ambulance to hospital.

 

He arrived at North Middlesex Hospital at 23:22 and a scan revealed he had a blood clot on the brain, but they did not have the facilities to operate. He was put back in an ambulance at 23:55 and taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, whilst the clot was pressing on his brain.

 

The team at St. Bart’s were ready for his arrival and they started proceedings to save Watson, whilst they waited for the consultant Neurosurgeon to arrive from his home. The clot was the size of a saucer of milk and nothing in Watson’s brain was working. His pupils were dilated, and he needed to be ventilated and operated on as soon as possible.

 

The first operation Watson endured was to remove the clot. His skull was cut open and the clot was sucked out. Ninety minutes later his skull was replaced, and Watson was taken to Intensive Care. The Neurosurgeon, Peter Hamlyn, had experience in treating boxers Rod Douglas and Robert Darko in 1989 and 1990 respectively, and was honest that Watson could die, and that any recovery would be slow.

 

Hamlyn’s statement to the press post-operation was: “Essentially Michael has suffered a severe injury and has undergone some emergency surgical treatment to the back of the head and is at the moment on the intensive care unit.

 

“He is obviously in a quite critical state, though at the moment he is stable. We will continue to give him all the treatment we can and I’m hopeful that we will be able to make some progress.

 

“But I can make no real definite about his prognosis or likely outcome at the moment.”

 

Watson was in the ICU for less than twelve hours when the pressure in his skull started to threaten his life. He had to have emergency brain surgery to remove the blood from his brain and he was close to death. The team did their best to stabilise him, but their main concern was not just his survival, it was about the quality of life he would have afterwards.

 

Chris Eubank came to visit him on the Tuesday night, and he spoke to Watson’s mother. He was full of guilt and extremely low, but Watson’s mother assured Eubank he had nothing to be guilty of.

 

During the first month post-operation, Watson showed no signs that the crucial part of his brain would ever function again. By the end of the first month increased neurological movement was detected and Watson could breathe with the aid of a tracheotomy tube in his throat, though he still needed the full attention of the ICU emergency staff.

 

In early November he was able to move his right hand and he opened his eyes and responded to questions with blinks. By mid-November, he was moved out of the ICU to a recovery ward. During that time, he had lost 14 pounds (6.35 Kg) in weight. Physiotherapists helped him restore his wasted muscles and although it was a slow and painful process, Watson was responding well, but he was still locked inside his own body.

 

After Christmas 1991, he was moved to Homerton Hospital’s special rehabilitation unit to begin the hardest part of his journey in the New Year. Watson’s right side of his body was strong, but his left side was deteriorating, and the physio was hard and painful.

 

He was communicating with a rotary board, until May, he uttered his first word. He went back to St. Bart’s Hospital on 27th May to have his head closed and a titanium plate fixed in his skull. It was around this time that Muhammad Ali, Watson’s boxing hero, came to pay him a visit. Watson was overjoyed to see his idol and raised his right hand higher than before to touch fists with The Greatest.

 

He went home in Christmas 1992 for ten days and returned to Homerton Hospital to continue his physiotherapy in January 1993. By the end of March, he was allowed to go home at weekends.

 

Watson was a lifelong Arsenal supporter, and the football club, organised by Ambrose Mendy, put on a celebrity football match at their ground in Highbury to raise proceeds for the Michael Watson Appeal Fund. They raised £86,000 and the money helped to make his home user-friendly for a wheelchair user.

 

After twenty-one months in hospital, Watson was now ready to go home with twenty-four-hour care assistance. By September 1993 he could stand in his living room with the support of all three of his carers. 

 

In September 1994, Watson’s solicitors sued the British Boxing Board of Control for negligence. The case did not go to court until 8th June 1999, and ten days before the actual date, the BBBofC tried to settle out of court. Watson rejected their first offer, and days before the hearing the Board upped their offer to £75,000, with Board secretary John Morris, who was a prominent figure at ringside for Eubank-Watson 2, claiming: “It would hurt if the Board lost a case like this, and there is a chance it may be settled beforehand.”

 

With half an hour before entering court, the Board upped their offer once more to £180,000. Watson countered with £220,000, believing that sum would be enough to set up a lifestyle for himself. The Board rejected the counter and the six-day hearing, which went on to run for twenty-one days, was finally settled on 24th September 1999, when the judge agreed that the BBBofC were in breach of their duty of care, and had the safety requirements been in place, Watson would have made a full recovery and suffered no disabilities.

 

The Board were initially refused an appeal, but their QC later applied to the Courts of Appeal and that was set for the 17th and 18th October 2000, with a judgement date of 19th December.

 

The original verdict was upheld, and the Board’s leave of appeal was refused. The Board’s legal team then applied to the House of Lords, and they gave them eighteen months before a decision could be made. During that time, the BBBofC had gone into administration and Watson’s hopes of getting compensation looked bleak.

 

However, promoter Frank Warren, who had never represented Watson, but had known him for years, intervened. Warren got the parties together for a without prejudice meeting to bring the crazy situation to an end.

 

Warren, the Board’s biggest contributor at the time, threatened to cease paying licence fees of any description. The Board finally agreed to sell their building - a prime site near London Bridge - and agreed to a framework.

 

After many meetings, a deal was secured, and the Board had to return to court to inform them they were dropping the appeal. An agreement was reached near 21st September 2001 - nearly ten years since the tragic rematch - with Watson to receive £400,000 in compensation.

 

Meanwhile, Watson was getting stronger and stronger, and in December 2002, he began training to take part in the London Marathon held on 13th April 2003, to raise money for Peter Hodgson’s Brain & Spine Foundation. Before his training, he could hardly walk a few hundred metres and depended greatly on his carers for a bit of extra support. 

 

It took Watson 22 minutes to walk the first mile and by his third mile, Paula Radcliff had broken her previous marathon world record (2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds). After his first day of walking, he had completed five miles. Watson completed the 26.2 miles (42.195 km) distance in six days, 2 hours, 27 minutes and 17 seconds. Although it was the slowest marathon record in history, it was also recognised as one of the greatest sporting achievements ever. Watson was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in 2004 for services to disabled sports.

 

In February 2017 Watson and his carer, Lennard Ballack, were involved in a carjacking incident in Chingford, London. Ballack was beaten and had ammonia sprayed in his face and Watson was dragged along the road, unable to escape when the vehicle was driven off. Watson suffered seizures and flashbacks after the event. Fortunately, justice prevailed when the two carjackers were later sentenced to sixteen years for the attack and other crimes.

 

Today, Watson continues to defy the odds with his inspiring recovery, fully living up to his name of The People’s Champion. 

All the best fight fans

Lea

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