BoxRec

O’Donnell – “Watson is all talk”

John O’Donnell believes that Craig Watson is trying to talk himself up ahead of their Commonwealth Welterweight title showdown in London this weekend. The two men go head to head in a top quality Commonwealth title matchup at the York Hall on Saturday night on a Hennessy Sports event which is live on ITV4.

The fight will be Watson’s second defence of his Commonwealth title following on from an impressive win over Matthew Hatton in a Manchster derby last time out. He’s predicting a stoppage win over O’Donnell but the Shepherd's Bush based challenger isn’t impressed.

“He’s been talking out of his arse but that’s up to him,” blasted O’Donnell. “Guys who talk like that are only trying to convince themselves, he can talk as much as he likes but it will be a different story in that ring – that’s where I’ll do my talking.

O’Donnell has 20 wins from his 21 pro fights to date with his solitary loss coming on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather – Oscar De La Hoya fight in Las Vegas two years ago.

O’Donnell believes that Watson is making his prediction based solely on that defeat. “He’s probably looked at my record and saw that my only defeat was that stoppage loss in Las Vegas so he probably thinks he can do the same.

“People definitely read too much into that loss, my mind wasn’t on the job that night and I also had an ear issue which was affecting my balance and needed surgery afterwards to correct it. My trainer, Rob McCracken could see that I wasn’t right and he pulled me out. It was bitterly disappointing at the time but you learn from these things and I’ve had 5 good wins since then. Hopefully Watson has learned from that early knockout loss he had in Italy too!”

McCracken will be back in O’Donnell’s corner on Saturday with the leading trainer making a quick return to the UK from Carl Froch’s training camp in Canada.

“I’ve been working with Rob for this fight for the last 13 weeks now so I’ve had loads of time with him,” said O’Donnell. “He headed to Canada with Carl at the weekend to set up their camp out there ahead of the Taylor fight but he’s coming back for my fight. This week is all about winding down anyway, all the hard work is done now and the important thing is that Rob will be there in the corner on the night.

“I’m ready to go right now. I’ll spend this week easing down, my weight is good and training’s gone great so I just want to get in there now and do the business.”

Watson V O’Donnell headlines a fantastic line-up of championship boxing at the York Hall in Bethnal Green. In the chief support bout Lenny Daws meets Peter McDonagh for the English Light Welterweight title while heavyweight sensation Tyson Fury, hot prospect Bradley Evans, Wembley’s Steve O’Meara and Irish Champ Stephen Haughian also feature on the undercard. Tickets are available from the Ticketline box office on 0844 888 4402 or via www.ticketline.co.uk.

I had been going for O Donnell on pts.
Most peole seem to favour Watson on here. He's just got slightly higher profile that's the only reason IMO. Same as when BN went for Matthew Hatton to beat Watson, I knew that was a load of crap.
I think O Donnell will stop Watson actually.
Last time I heard that line "...it' a different story when you get in that ring" was when my pal Francis "upset" Neil Sinclair in Dublin.

O Donnell TKO 10. Too late to change my prediction league though.

Hennessy fighters accusing others of being all talk?? Surely not? D

Good fight this one, I really like the look of O'Donnell ( plus he's from down the road ) and that's why I've gone for him on points. Other guy looks a tough one though...

Terry D wrote:

NorthEastBoxingFan wrote: Most peole seem to favour Watson on here. He's just got slightly higher profile that's the only reason IMO. Same as when BN went for Matthew Hatton to beat Watson, I knew that was a load of crap.

We need to set-up a 'Matt H' box for NEBF. Within a week of setting it up we would have enough money for us all to go to Germany, together, in a private jet, filled with hookers, and dwarves.

I take your point I just thought that stood out to me as an example of the higher profile fighter being tipped to win, IMO for nothing more than having a higher profile. And see a similarity with the Watson O Donnell fight, which is the same weight class and I've seen a good bit of all 3 to have as good an opinion as anyone else. Be interesting to see who the BN go for.
As for the words I can't say, he started it by mouthing off, that's all I'll say. Sorry if I seem to go on, I thought I had toned it down a lot tbh, and my posts are about 99% of the time nothing to do with him I would say.
I'm afraid the hookers and dwarves will have to go on ice for now...

I think O'Donnell will win by UD widely he is a talented boxer

Thats quite funny - O Donnell is talking about someone else being "all talk" - what a contradiction.

Real toughie to call this, I cannot remember what I said in the prediction league - this is a real toss up. O Donnell has an awkard style for Watson, but Watson is in great form.

stujones wrote:Thats quite funny - O Donnell is talking about someone else being "all talk" - what a contradiction.

I blame the Hennessey hype machine personally: they rarely get the tone and frequency of their press releases right and it can often give the wrong impression that their fighters are gobby braggarts.

Its a cracking trade fight that doesnt need the usual bluster and bull5hit to sell it.

TerribleTerry wrote:

stujones wrote:Thats quite funny - O Donnell is talking about someone else being "all talk" - what a contradiction.

I blame the Hennessey hype machine personally: they rarely get the tone and frequency of their press releases right and it can often give the wrong impression that their fighters are gobby braggarts.

Its a cracking trade fight that doesnt need the usual bluster and bull5hit to sell it.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are gobby - I just thought it was funny that someone was "being gobby" about another fighter being gobby.... especially as I haven't really read much from Watson to back this up!

stujones wrote:

TerribleTerry wrote:

stujones wrote:Thats quite funny - O Donnell is talking about someone else being "all talk" - what a contradiction.

I blame the Hennessey hype machine personally: they rarely get the tone and frequency of their press releases right and it can often give the wrong impression that their fighters are gobby braggarts.

Its a cracking trade fight that doesnt need the usual bluster and bull5hit to sell it.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are gobby - I just thought it was funny that someone was "being gobby" about another fighter being gobby.... especially as I haven't really read much from Watson to back this up!

Very true - my thoughts precisely Stu.

I hope that HS Press reads the comments on these boards and doens't just spam them with his releases: good fights like this don't need the usual BS to sell them.

I can't imagine there is a single fan on these boards who ISN'T looking forward to this one?!..

Well I think in these credit crunch times, HS Press has got to show his boss he is doing some work.... so if spam on boxrec etc keeps him in a job and able to feed his family, then carry on.

Lenny Daws v Peter McDonagh for the English title will be a good scrap. I think Daws has to be favourite to grind down McDonagh in the second half.