The People’s Champion
By Rab MacWilliam
When a flurry of punches from Chris Eubank slammed against
Michael Watson’s head early in the twelfth round at White
Hart Lane in September 1991, it deprived Michael not only of his
dream of becoming WBO World Super-Middleweight Champion. It also
very nearly ended his life.
Stoke Newington-born Michael’s determined and courageous
fightback from the appalling brain injuries he suffered in the fight
has been well documented, as has his physical and spiritual journey
since that dreadful night, culminating in his receiving an MBE and
his completion of the London Marathon, against all the odds, in
2004. The fact it took him over six days to complete the course
is an indication of the physical pain he had to endure and also
of his indomitable will. ‘It’s the fighter’s spirit
in me’, he says.
I meet up with Michael and his friend Lennard Ballack at Dem Café
in the High Street to talk about what he’s up to now and his
plans for the future. The pair are well known in the area and are
frequent visitors to Z Bar, where Michael is received with admiration
and respect. Although Michael now lives in Chingford, he still considers
Stoke Newington his home. Born in Rectory Road in 1965 he spent
his early years in the area. ‘Why do you spend so much time
here?’ I ask. ‘All things start from home. I don’t
forget where I’m from’, he replies. He sees his role,
here and elsewhere, as ‘inspiring and encouraging people,
helping them to overcome adversity’.
He talks to the youth in Stoke Newington – ‘I’m
coming from where they’re coming from’ – and is
a role model for the kids. As if neatly to illustrate this point,
a young man interrupts our conversation to ask for Michael’s
autograph on his bus ticket. ‘I’m a boxer, too’
he mutters, bashfully. Michael throws a feint right hook in his
direction, saying ‘no, friend, you’re a warrior’.
I swear the kid grew six inches in height.
I ask him if he still follows boxing. ‘I still love boxing.
What happened to me was due to negligence (he won a substantial
compensation sum from the British Board of Boxing Control who were
found guilty of lax behaviour). I have never blamed Eubank for what
happened. I go to boxing matches when invited but I’m generally
too busy to attend many fights.’ Earlier in his career, he
had an acrimonious split from controversial promoter Mickey Duff.
Do you still see him? “I saw him recently. I carry no animosity.
I have learnt to forgive people’.
He keeps in touch with old ring rival Nigel Benn, whom he defeated
in Finsbury Park in 1989 to win the Commonwealth Middleweight Championship.
Benn, like Michael, is now a committed Christian and Michael recently
spent several days at Benn’s home in Majorca discussing the
old days. Before the White Hart Lane fight Benn had defeated Iran
Barkley to win the World Middleweight Championship. After Michael’s
accident, he handed the belt to Michael saying, ‘it’s
really yours – you deserve it’, a gesture which deeply
touched him.
He has also been an Arsenal fan since an early age and used to
fight wearing the Arsenal colours, complete with the word ‘Gunners’
on his vest. He numbered the late ‘Rocky’ Rocastle and
Kevin Campbell among his friends, and he used to play in club testimonials.
The club gave him a fund-raising game after the Eubank fight and,
having attended the match, I can attest to the deep affection and
sincere applause that greeted him as he was wheeled round the stadium.
Scandalously, he now seems to be forgotten at Highbury and he has
not been invited back since. He says, diplomatically, ‘I feel
disappointed that they seem to have ignored me’ but I sense
that the hurt goes much deeper than that. However, he remains a
Gooner at heart and a fan of Thierry Henry – ‘I really
admire him’.
Michael now spends most of his time raising funds for his charity
work, helping the Red Cross, the Teenage Cancer Fund (‘I try
to put a smile on their faces and tell them never to give up’)
with Roger Daltrey and Eric Clapton, and the Brain and Spine Foundation,
which was the beneficiary of his Marathon epic.
Although he still suffers, understandably, from bouts of depression,
he says ‘the more I look to the future, the better I feel.
I look forward to the light’. He is helped through this by
his family (his mother and two daughters in their late teens) and
his Christianity. ‘I’ve always believed but I wasn’t
committed. Commitment began after the accident. I had to go through
darkness to get to the light’. However, he is far from being
a typical churchgoer. He believes that, with Lennard nodding vigorously
in assent, ‘the church is within yourself. If they wished,
the churches and mosques could wipe out starvation and poverty overnight.’
‘How do you feel when you wake up?’ I ask. ‘I
give thanks every morning. Most people take feeling, speaking and
seeing for granted. I don’t. The experience has turned me
into a better person. I’m still part of the lads but I feel
that my mission in life is to help people overcome the odds and
help them stay on the straight and narrow’.
At this, we part company, Michael and Lennard heading off to the
Z Bar. I return to my office feeling privileged to have chatted
with one of the most charismatic, charming and astonishingly positive
people I have had the pleasure of meeting.
To donate to Michael’s charities, visit www.redcross.org,
www.teenagecancertrust.org and www.brainandspine.org
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