The Boxing History Blog

Michael Watson The following months after his defeat to Mike McCallum, Michael Watson sued his manager Mickey Duff and began to manage his own affairs. Three weeks before the 18th of November 1990 clash between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, Watson approached Barry Hearn and the promoter hastily got him on the undercard against Errol Christie.    Coventry’s Christie had an illustrious amateur career and was touted as being one of the finest professional boxers the United Kingdom had ever produced, with many believing he would go on to win multiple world championships. He turned professional on live terrestrial television in November 1982, and his road to glory got underway.   However, his career took a downward spiral after clashing with Mark Kaylor in a British middleweight title eliminator on 5th November 1985. The build-up was marred by the two fighters brawling at a photo shoot to publicise the contest. The fight itself was predicted to be a short, explosive affair, and...

Michael Watson Mickey Duff guaranteed that Michael Watson’s victory over Nigel Benn would elevate him to the number one spot in the WBA rankings. Jamaica’s Mike McCallum won the vacant crown by a split decision against Herol Graham at the Royal Albert Hall on 10th May 1989, eleven days prior to Watson and Benn squaring off. McCallum, known as the ‘Bodysnatcher’, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 7th December 1956, and compiled an amateur record of 240-10. During his 250-bout career, he was runner-up in the 1974 Central America and Caribbean Games and reached the quarterfinals of that year's World Championships.    The following year he was a silver medallist at the North American Continental Championships, and in 1976 reached the welterweight quarterfinals of the Montreal Olympic Games. In 1977 he became the National AAU welterweight champion, defeating Marlon Starling in the semifinal, and lifted the National Golden Gloves title.   His success continued in 1978...

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 animo...