Michael Watson vs. Felix Trinidad @ MW

Just watching some Watson fights, how do you think he does against the Trinidad that Joppy lost to because of the ring?

 

Nice matchup.

Tendency would be to think that Watson does to Trinidad what he did to Benn or perhaps what Winky Wright did to Trinidad.

Trinidad isn't as wild as Benn and he has much more stamina than the 160lb version of Benn...so i see a different fight entirely.

Watson isn't a southpaw like Wright (the southpawedness was part of the problem IMO) and doesn't pump out the jab as regularly or as powerfully.

I think Trinidad breaks him down gradually and stops him late.

 

Watson survives some scary moments en route to a UD win.

MTF

 

Watson has some success, he might even be ahead on the cards, but I see him getting stopped late

 

Tito was waaaaaaaaaaaay too crude to stop Watson. Benn was a harder punching MW than Tito and Watson schooled him.

MTF :dunno:

 

Good fight, could really go either way. I'd lean towards Watson, marginally

 

First mistake:

Tito wasn't "crude". Crude is 160lbs Benn, Iran Barkley, Ricardo Mayorga. Trinidad was an accurate and efficient offensive machine.

Second mistake:

How hard you punch has no bearing on whether or not you get schooled. Benn punched harder than mcCallum too...did Watson school McCallum?

 

Tito was probably easier to nulify at middleweight than Benn, i think. Tito was a more textbook straight puncher, but he was also more predictable in his set up to throwing 'em.

 

IMO...Watson's defense was made to be effective against crude hookers. He had no defense to punches that came up the middle (ask Eubank and MCCallum). As such his blocking would always be more effective against a Benn type puncher than it would be against a Trinidad style puncher (who was far less predictable in his attack).

 

Firstly: Tito was an accurate and efficient offensive machine at 147 against largely mediocre opponents who later fell totally in love with his power (just like Benn did prior to the Watson fight). Tito also had the boxing brain of a pea. He would have fallen into exactly the same trap as Benn.

Secondly: The power itself is not the issue. It is the style which matters. McCallum was a highly skilled, tricky fighter with too much nous and class for Watson. Eubanks, who lost CLEARLY to Watson in the first fight and was miles behind in the second prior to that punch, was a much better MW than Tito and he was schooled by Watson for 75% of their combined fights. Benn, an offensive, all-action power puncher (like Tito) was completely schooled by Watson. Completely schooled. The relevance of that fight is important here.

MTF

 

What nonsense. Eubank landed almost nothing of note in near 23 complete rounds against Watson. The only punch he landed came when Watson foolishly relaxed after knocking Eubanks down.

MTF

 

Watson easy UD. Fuck Trinidad.

 

Watson by dominant UD. Honestly I'm shocked anyone would pick Tito, especially cdogg.

Tito would get Winky'd. No way is he beating a good, skilled middleweight with good defense like Watson, not a chance.

And yes, Tito is far easier to shut down than Benn. Benn was an unpredictable wildman with huge power.

Tito is a plodding, overly patient puncher, who is easier to shut down than almost any other fighter as highly regarded as he is. Just a decent jab and basic, solid defense.

 

What if Watson was the exact same fighter, same atributes, style etc..

But he was from America?

 

He'd still win because he's better. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen him win a MM on here.

MTF

 

I don't personally think Watson was as difficult and frustrating as Wright at all... I think it's poor form to use that matchup as a measuring stick for Watson/Trinidad

 

word.

Also this characterization of Trinidad being a mindless brawler is ignorant. He was patient and accurate. Now that Patience was his undoing against Hopkins and De La Hoya, but they were constantly moving and jabbing. Watson was not a mover and jabber. As for Winky Wright...his style and defense is completely different to Watson's.

 

Go rewatch Watson-Eubanks II. Watson exhausted Eubanks by moving him around the ring and jabbing his head off.

MTF

 

This would be a near shutout like Wright, even though they're not that similar stylistically, Watson is a proper middleweight with good defense.

Tito hasn't proved he can do anything at all to a middleweight with solid boxing skills and defense.

He would plod around getting jabbed, swinging the odd huge left hook near Watson's head, and win about 1 round out of 12.

 

Fair enough. This is true. He didn't usually fight that way though.

 

Correct, and this is my point. Watson was a highly skilled, adaptable, tough and hard punching middleweight. He could fight very defensively (Benn) or aggressively (Eubanks). It took an ATG in McCallum to beat him and a miracle, 1 in a million punch to end his career. Tito, on the other hand, had one gear, one fight plan, a great punch and a brain like a flea's. You need more than that to beat Watson.

MTF

 

Trinidad's boxing "brain" is grossly underrated. Y'all make him sound like Jeff Lacy. That's ridiculous. Trinidad was a better fighter than Watson, period.

 

Trinidad was, in no way, shape or form, a better middleweight than Michael Watson. No way on earth.

MTF

 

He would have knocked Watson out. Make no mistake.

 

Watson's quite a bit more hitable than Hopkins or Wright

 

Nonsense. Tito was an exceptionally powerful welterweight. No welterweight was knocking Watson out. No fucking way.

MTF

 

Who isn't 'quite a bit more hittable' than Winky? Dude was a human crab FFS. What matters here is that Watson had very solid defense and was perfectly capable of nullifying one trick ponies in love with their power. That'll do here.

MTF

 

He was an exceptionally powerful middleweight too, he fucked Joppy & Cheriffi right up and both were pretty durable guys

 

They were also both shite. Joppy barely beat Eastman, who Watson would have wiped his arse with. Cherrifi was absolute garbage.

MTF

 

Tito and that version of Benn were nothing alike other than both being big punchers. Nigel was young and wild when he fought Watson, and basically got rope-a-doped.

For whatever flaws he had, Tito was never going to punch himself out in a fight. Yes, he fell in love with his power, but was one of the most effective and economical punchers in at least his generation. In fact, a flaw of his (among other things) was that he probably didn't throw enough punches, which makes him the exact opposite of Benn.