Watkins made his professional debut on 20 September 2014, scoring a fourth-round
technical knockout (TKO) victory over David Vicena at the
Wembley Arena in
London. His first defence came two months later against Mike Stafford on 2 December at the
Leicester Arena. After encountering some difficulties in the first few rounds, Watkins began to take control midway through the fight, opening a cut below Stafford's eye in the sixth round. At the end of the seventh, Stafford's
corner warned their man that they would call off the fight to save him from further punishment. Seeing no improvements from Stafford, his corner called a halt to the contest at the end of the eighth round, awarding Watkins a stoppage win by
corner retirement (RTD). His second defence came against
WBA Continental Cruiserweight champion and
2016 Olympian,
Lawrence Okolie, on 6 June 2018 at
York Hall in London, with Okolie's WBA title also on the line. Watkins suffered two knockdowns in the third round, the second of which promoted referee Michael Alexander to call a halt to the contest, handing Watkins the first defeat of his career to lose his Commonwealth title by TKO. His next fight was against
Isaac Chamberlain – who also lost to Okolie in his previous fight – on 27 October 2018 at the
Copper Box Arena in London. After a hard-fought ten rounds, Watkins suffered his second defeat, losing via
points decision (PTS). Referee Kieran McCann scored the bout 95–94 in favour of Chamberlain, with the defining factor being a late knockdown scored by Chamberlain in the final seconds of the tenth and final round. ==Professional boxing record==