British Scene: Rees Shows Watson the Value of Experience in Cracking British Title Scrap

Andrew Harrison recaps Saturday night's British Lightweight title clash between Gavin Rees and John Watson.  For more from Andrew, make sure to check out his blog: Safe Side of the Ropes.

Experience won the day in Newport on Saturday evening as Gavin Rees used his second wind to blow the resilient John Watson off his stride and out of the fight. After a shocking start, Watson had managed to claw himself back into a bout he had initially appeared not to have had any real business being involved in, only for Rees to grit his teeth down the stretch, dropping his man in the tenth before closing the show in the penultimate round.

Watson arrived for duty hoping that his talent and drive would be enough to leapfrog him up several levels, from that of teen fight prospect to British lightweight champion, yet with the opening bell still ringing in his ears his plan evaporated mid-ring. As Rees (9st, 7lb, 7oz) nabbed centre canvas, Watson (9st, 8lb, 15oz) appeared to freeze, posing and measuring with his left as uncertainty closed in all around him. Rees showed no such hesitation, kicking into action with bursts of quick combination punching, backing Watson up and piling into him with hurtful punches to take a decidedly one-sided opener.

Relishing the opportunity to put Watson in his place, Rees picked up where he’d left off in the second. With his edge in quickness telling, Rees scored with snappy jabs and reaching lefts and rights which had the taller Watson back-pedalling frantically. "Easy, easy" chanted the Welshman’s supporters as he ploughed into Watson’s body before shooting quick rights over the Liverpool man’s pawing lead hand.

As they moved into the third, Rees took up roost in the middle of the ring, dodging Watson’s jabs with his head low, bobbing this way and that before darting out of a crouch to dig home swift shots with both mitts. At halfway, a clash of heads split Watson’s brow and as Rees wailed into him again, the gulf in punches landed was so acute, had the former amateur star Watson still been campaigning in a vest and head guard, he surely would have been the recipient of an outclassing. Underlining the point, Rees landed a huge right clout against the ropes to terminate the session.

With trainer Dave Coldwell imploring him to use his jab between rounds, Watson continued to malfunction with it, shaking out his arms at one point as though there were an air bubble lodged somewhere, precluding them from working properly. Nevertheless he began stepping into his tormentor more, despite catching big shots for his trouble. A couple of corking straight rights merely returned the same with interest, Rees unwilling to relinquish the death grip he had on proceedings.

The fifth brought about shoots of recovery for Watson, who began lashing out with accurate one-twos from range. As Rees began clearing a nose which had appeared to be already busted on his way into the ring, Watson finally began to find the beat, actually backing Rees up to the extent that the Scouse contingent in attendance cracked open a chant of "Watto, Watto".

Watson began mixing in uppercuts as the sixth began, rallying hard to overturn his awful start. Despite continuing to fall into the trap of catching a right over his lazy left, his own busy, quick hands were beginning to turn things around for him.

Buoyed by his success, Watson landed a beautiful, arrowed right hand as the seventh began which brought blood streaming from the nose of Rees. Finding an awkward remedy to his opponent’s right hand by listing ungainly to one side, Watson continued to bounce straight shots off his opponent’s bald head. A fierce exchange suddenly drew the fighter out of Watson. Tapping his gloves together and beckoning Rees to come to him, he hustled and bustled to record his best round of the fight.

Rees rebounded in the eighth, burrowing into Watson and regaining the accuracy he appeared to have mislaid. In what amounted to an excellent three minutes of scrapping, the pair battled tit-for-tat, with Watson launching a furious attack at the Welshman against the ropes to edge him the points. Watson smacked a whipping left into Rees’ ribcage mid-way through the ninth, capitalising on that good shot with a follow-up left, this one whistling into the older man’s face. Rees, visibly weary, began churning out his tired levers, gasping for his second wind as the round wound down.

As they toiled into the tenth, control of the bout teetered on a knife-edge before Rees landed the decisive punch of the night; a short, chopping right into Watson’s temple. The Liverpudlian fell to hands and knees, rising groggily on spaghetti legs at the count of two. As Rees piled into him, Watson held on grimly, the bell saving him from what looked an inevitable stoppage.

Rees closed the show in the eleventh, chasing Watson all over the ring before punctuating his gritty display with a thumping, overhand right against the strands with 1:13 on the clock. It was an excellent little rumble and a hard one too, Rees candidly admitting afterwards that he himself had been close to defeat at times throughout the contest.

Watson showed mettle to go with his obvious skill, yet Rees proved that experience and know-how is an invaluable commodity when looking to steady one’s self through choppy waters. Rees now champions a title once held by illustrious names such as Freddie Welsh, Jack "Kid" Berg, Ronnie James, Ken Buchanan and Jim Watt, stretching his record out to 34-1 (16) in the process. Watson slips to 13-1 (5).