Watson's next miracle? The walk of life with his doctor

Michael Watson, who sustained a life-threatening brain injury in his 1991 loss to Chris Eubank, will walk a charity mile with Peter Hamlyn this afternoon, writes Steve Bunce

- 

In late 2002, Michael Watson was told that the London Marathon was a fight too far even for him. He was told that people hit the wall at 20 miles and that he would hit the wall after 100 metres. He never listened to the advice from Peter

Hamlyn, the neurosurgeon who saved his life. Watson never listens to people telling him “no”.

“I told Peter that the hardest part would be the victory celebration at the end,” Watson told me. He was not joking.

Watson did complete the 2003 London Marathon, finishing in six days, two hours, 27 minutes and 17 seconds, adding the iconic race to his list of outrageous achievements. It’s a list that includes somehow surviving the night of 21 September 1991, when he was rushed from the ring unconscious after his catastrophic rematch against Chris Eubank. The survival all those years ago was a team effort: Watson and Hamlyn, the miracle team.

Well, they are back together and both are walking a mile this afternoon to raise money and awareness for the Brain & Spine Foundation. Watson is now 60, an impossible age for a man with his chances all those long and lonely midnights ago. Hamlyn is the man in charge of fantasies; together, they are a rare double act.