By John Evans 

Whilst the recent bout between Amir Khan and Paul McCloskey at Manchesters M.E.N Arena hogged the headlines for a variety of reasons, the undercard played host to possibly the biggest shock in British boxing this year as Lee Purdy knocked out Craig Watson to claim the British Welterweight title. Whilst Purdy is undoubtedly an improving and hard hitting fighter, few gave him a chance of upsetting the local champion that April night. Watson gets an immediate chance for revenge when he faces his conqueror again at Oldham Sports Centre on July 16th.

Having lost the title in Manchester, Watson must be relieved, and maybe a little surprised, that Hatton Promotions managed to persuade the Matchroom promoted Purdy to venture back ‘up north’ to make the first defence of his belt? “I’m so happy. Ricky’s done me a favour getting me this really. Everyone at Hatton Promotions who pushed for this fight has done a brilliant job and I’m over the moon”.

This could be seen as a must win bout for Watson. With stablemates Matthew Hatton and Denton Vassell also competing for titles at 147lbs, meaningful fights could prove tough to come by should he come up short. Negative thoughts haven’t entered Watsons mind. He believes there were valid reasons behind the defeat last time out.

“I wasn’t 100% in the last fight. I was a little bit rundown but I didn’t realise myself until we got into the fight. I had no power in my shots whatsoever. I could land my shots but there was just no power in them.

“I had one big fight against John O’Donnell that I trained long and hard for and then it was like eight weeks later, another one. Really I should have had a good long rest after the O’Donnell fight”.

It’s abundantly clear that Watson regrets taking the fight but the reasons for accepting the bout are familiar.  Money and opportunity can be almost impossible to turn down. It isn’t the first time a fighter has entered the ring in less than peak condition in search of the spoils of war and it certainly won’t be the last.

“You don’t realise. When they offer you so much money and say there’s a big fight, in Manchester at the M.E.N Arena you think “Brilliant. I want a chance to showcase what I’m all about” but obviously, it was just the wrong time for me and I should have had a long lay off. You can’t turn it down though. Its X amount of money, in your hometown, you’ve sold so many tickets and obviously I didn’t perform. I aim to please this time. Big time”.

Watson, 20-4, exudes confidence when talking about the fight. There seems to be no doubt in his mind that should his preparations go to plan, victory will be well within his grasp.

“I still don’t think he’s that good, I really don’t. I made it look so easy for the first few rounds until he caught me with one shot. If he’d have hit me with that when I was fighting John O’Donnell I’d have laughed at him but he got me at the right time and at the right moment. Fair play to him” he states.

So, apart from the big right hand that ended matters, did the 15-2-1 Purdy cause any other surprises in the first bout? Were there any little nuances that Purdy bought to the ring that Watson feels may present problems in the rematch? “No” he replies quickly. “I honestly think he’s a one trick pony who knows only one way; to come forward. He’s got a bit of boxing ability but it’s nothing like mine. If you compared us, I can box coming forward, box on my back foot and I can punch as well. If anyone was to put money on it I think they’d put it on me to win. I aim to put the record straight this time.

“There are little things we’re working on in sparring. We’ve had Ronnie Heffron in lately. We’ve been putting each other through our paces. He’s an excellent fighter, very skilful and very aggressive. Just like Lee Purdy. We were trying to get Karl Place because he’s a good come forward fighter but he’s on holiday.

Watson’s shot at redemption takes places in his own backyard.  Oldham Sports Centre has been in the professional boxing wilderness since February 1999. That night, trouble between rival fans outside the venue led to the death of a spectator.  Although it is a long held ambition of Watson to bring championship boxing back to his home town, the pressure of fighting in front of an expectant home crowd doesn’t seem to be affecting the 28 year old southpaw. In fact, he’s relishing the chance to kickstart a boxing revival in the town. “Apparently the tickets are absolutely flying out. I reckon it’ll be near enough sold out anyway” he says. “It’s been 15 years since they had a British title fight in Oldham. Oldham’s lacking sporting events like this, all there really is are the rugby and football teams. I’m really looking forward to beating him convincingly and getting Oldham back on the boxing map. That’s what I really want. To build up a big fan base here and sell Oldham out every time. You never know, one day I could be topping the bill at Oldham Athletic”.

Watson can also draw strength from his performance when claiming the British title for the first time. The aforementioned O’Donnell had beaten Watson 16 months previously so the bout doubled as a rematch for the fired up Oldhamer. That night, he travelled down to London and outboxed O’Donnell in front of his home fans.

“Amateur and professionally I’ve never lost a return” he states “I’m super confident of beating him. I’m one of those where if you don’t think positive about something you won’t do it. If you’re not confident of beating someone you won’t do it. I’m totally confident of beating him this time”.