ive got some fights of his on VHS from early 89 & he was a very, very exciting young prospect.

Douglas factfile-
London schoolboys titles at three diff weights (132,139,147) 78-79-80, four ABA titles (156 in 83 & 84, 165 in 85 & 87), two Commonwealth games gold medals (82 & 86), beat Sanderline Williams in USA-vs-UK in 82, beat ron Essett in USA-vs-UK in 84, robbed against shawn O'sullivan at 84 Olympic games, robbed against hungarian Fuzesy at 85 Euro champs in Budapest, robbed against Italian Mastrodonato at 87 Euro champs in Turin. beat Benn & Watson at London ABAs. good friend of Lennox Lewis from 84 Olympics & 86 Commonwealths, trained at same gym as Lennox in 88-89.

How far could he of gone, all the way ?
apparently his future rival before he even turned pro was supposed to be Benn becos they didnt like each other outside the ring.

has anybody seen the Bomber Graham fight, did Douglas hold his own ? Its such a shame that such a promising career had to end through brain injuries, ive seen him & he was the full load!

Who? What? Huh?

a above average british am from the 80s, he had a win over benn in the ams, he looked ok, he suffered injuries and was forced to retire early on in his career.
Mike watson or benn would of retired him or even eubank if he had carried on.
This should be in global

Rod was obviously a hot,up-coming lion. He became the first guy to ever beat Benn in the ams(1985),but Benn reversed the loss the following year knocking Rod down a few times and getting the decision. Benn won the 1986 ABAs but it was Rod who went to the Commonwealth Games,they screwed Benn out of it. Michael Watson had become the first guy to ever beat Douglas in the ams(1982),but Rod reversed the loss the following year and then got a gift decision against Watson the year after that to go to the Olympics. So really,Watson was screwed out of the 1984 Olympic Games for Rod to go and Benn was screwed out of the 1986 Commonwealth Games for Rod to go.

Benn and Watson both beat Rod in the ams,but Rod also held wins over them. I think Benn and Watson were the only guys to legitimately defeat Rod Douglas in the ams,the other three losses were robberies as you say.

Apparently the two fights between Benn and Douglas in 85 and 86 where they went 1-1 were WARS,they hated eachother and the fights were very aggressive and difficult for the referee to control. So everybody was excited about Benn and Douglas settling the issue in the pros,and I was really looking forward for that fight so it is such a shame.

Douglas Vs Benn

http://i13.ebayimg.com/04/i/05/25/2d/a7_1_b.JPG Vs https://secure.contactdesigns.net/boxingstuff.com/htdocs/contactcommerce/images/items/nigelbennchilambeprog.jpg


That was going to be World War III!

Douglas was just trying to look good all the time throwing flash combo's and frowning at people .. based on what we saw of him in the pro's he was clearly trying too hard to impress, and most of his fights he was carrying injuries! He didn't hit as hard as Benn but he came out fighting and put top efforts into punches and rarely threw singles, he was talented and very rough but I felt overrated, he was always trying too hard to look good ..

I remember everybody wanted Benn/Douglas rather than Benn/Watson, even right up to the fight people were wishing that Douglas would replace Watson and fight Benn instead ..

His people threw him in with Herol Graham far too early though, Douglas was so untested in the pro's whereas Herol was top-class .. in truth, Bomber totally outclassed Douglas but sure Douglas tried really hard and just kept on coming and coming but Bomber was countering him to pieces :(

The top three British amateurs lb4lb of the 1980's outside of George Collins were Douglas, Benn and Watson. The top three British fighters lb4lb of the early 1990's were Benn, Eubank and Watson.

That was a legendary era for British Middleweight's!

The top three British amateurs lb4lb of the 1980's outside of George Collins were Douglas, Benn and Watson. The top three British fighters lb4lb of the early 1990's were Benn, Eubank and Watson.

That was a legendary era for British Middleweight's!
Herol 'Bomber' Graham would of beaten Benn,Eubank and Watson on the same night ;)

Herol 'Bomber' Graham would of beaten Benn,Eubank and Watson on the same night ;)
Well Bomber would almost certainly of outpointed Hagler had the fight taken place any time between 84 and 86. He beats Benn or Watson, even in 89. Eubank though had the tools to outpoint Bomber.

Well Bomber would of almost certainly outpointed Hagler had the fight taken place any time between 84 and 86. He beats Benn or Watson, even in 89. Eubank though had the tools to outpoint Bomber.
Eubank had a TERRIFIC stiff jab,and thinking about it I agree with you that if he used that tool enough then he would of kept Bomber off of him with it. But you see Eubank neglected that tool too often and tried to look good without it,he didnt use his stiff jab often enough but when he did he dominated.

Eubank had a TERRIFIC stiff jab,and thinking about it I agree with you that if he used that tool enough then he would of kept Bomber off of him with it. But you see Eubank neglected that tool too often and tried to look good without it,he didnt use his stiff jab often enough but when he did he dominated.
Yeah because if you watch the Graham-McCallum fight, McCallum couldn't land anything on Graham early on and it looked as if the fight was a mismatch with Graham running away with it! But, then McCallum started to get his jab working and picked up the middle rounds, it was the accurate jab of McCallum that scored him rounds in that fight and he was lucky that Graham tired at the end. If McCallum couldn't get his jab working, he wouldn't of won a round against Graham. And McCallum even admitted after the Graham fight at the post-fight interview sat on the ring apron that he'd of had no complaints with a draw and that Graham was the best he'd ever fought.. and Graham was washed up! So I think probably the only way to beat Graham was to have a snappy jab and deliver it quick, or Chris Eubank's particular stiff jab that he stepped in to and was too difficult to avoid (Eubank's stiff jab would of grinded down anybody if he used it from the very start).

Well JuyJuy, the story is that Eubank spent six weeks sparring at Wincobank and didn't hit Graham once :D

Chris admitted that Graham was the one guy he wouldnt fight, probably because he knew that Bomber Graham was the one guy he couldnt beat ..

Well JuyJuy, the story is that Eubank spent six weeks sparring at Wincobank and didn't hit Graham once :D

Chris admitted that Graham was the one guy he wouldnt fight, probably because he knew that Bomber Graham was the one guy he couldnt beat ..
Eubank refused to fight southpaws back then, thats why he didn't fight Nunn after he beat Benn. Eubank also gave Mike McCallum the cold shoulder because Eubank was urinating blood after Benn's body punches and knew that McCallum was deadly to the body, Eubank said "What would he bring?" when asked why he wouldn't accept McCallum's challenge for a unification fight in 1991 (McCallum was small money). Eubank said that the only fight he'd stay at 160 for would be Julian Jackson, because Jackson had famously one-punch KO'd Graham on ProBox in the same month that Eubank famously beat Benn on ProBox and so there was money in a Jackson fight.

I think Eubank said in his autobiography that Graham was the one fighter he couldn't suss out.

Why the *&%# do we have to keep reading threads in here about boxers like Eubank, Benn, & the almighty Rod Douglas? Fair enough if everyone was interested, but really... take it to the history section.

I think Eubank said in his autobiography that Graham was the one fighter he couldn't suss out.
Chris said "He could make any great fighter look bad" ..

rod looks liek a combo between MR.T and RJJ :X

Chris said "He could make any great fighter look bad" ..
Mike McCallum said the exact same thing!
Here: http://www.secondsout.com/Legends/update.cfm?ccs=233&cs=8462

rod douglas was SCUM, he was street fighter who raped girls and liked to throw his wieght a round in pubic, he once head butted a bouncer so hard that the bouncers nose was splatterd a corss his face and was squashed and kind of not there wen healed, he had nigel benns brother in a head lock backtsage at a tornament and was bangin his head in to a locker just becos benns brother looked at him wrong
How do you know this?

Can anybody tell me who else Mike Watson lost to as an am ?

Can anybody tell me who else Mike Watson lost to as an am ?
He lost to some lad who's name escapes me, in the ABA junior final.

He also lost to Errol Christie at the 82 ABA's, but easily avenged that defeat on the Benn-Eubank undercard.