Yet, even by this stage of Watt's ring career, the southpaw had proved his class, taking Nigerian Jonathon Dele the full 15-round distance in Lagos, Nigeria in a losing bid to win the Commonwealth lightweight crown. Then even more impressively, Watt confounded the pessimists by going the full 15 rounds with Scottish ring legend, from Edinburgh, Ken Buchanan in January 1973 in Glasgow in a defence of Watt's British lightweight title which he had won by stopping Tony Riley in Sheffield in May 1972.
In losing over 15 rounds, Watt made many new friends, including Buchanan himself who admitted that southpaw Watt ahd made him toil hard for his 15-round points victory. Then there was a trip to South Africa where Jim Watt beat Springbok Andreas Steyn in his own backyard in 1972.
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So it was that a Scottish boxing champion who used to proudly sing 'Flower of Scotland' in the ring to ringside fans had his most memorable ring triumphs choreographed for him by Essex man Lawless.
Who can forget that memorable night of April 1979, in the Kelvin Hall, when, despite being hit with what Jim himself decribes as 'the single hardest punch I ever took in the ring' by Colombian Alfredo Pitalua, Watt stormed back to first deck, then stop the tough South American in the 12th round before an ecstatic crowd?
Incidentally, this bout was historic because it was the first ever world title fight staged in Scotland where an American referee, New York's Arthur Mercante, who would officiate at the first Ali v Frazier heavyweight title joust in March 1971, was in charge.
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