could steve collins punch?

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Originally Posted by ICB

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Originally Posted by hattonthehammer

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Originally Posted by ross

No, I wouldnt call him a big puncher.

What a lot of people forget about Eubank and Collins is how Chris nearly had him out of there, he smashed Steve in to the ropes, infact he was holding himself up with the ropes then Chris just stands back for 10 seconds and then the bell goes, Chris could have had him out of there, just like he could have with Thompson:p

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Such a shame people dont manage to have those endless list of great fights from the 90s

Only benn/eubank fights around on the net are the 2 they had with eachother. Collins-Eubank was the feud to end all feuds!!

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I had all those fights, but i had to delete them. Such a shame Chris Eubank vs Carl Thompson 1 was a candidate for FOTY, and one of the best Cruiserweight fights of all time.

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Eubank in the first Thompson fight was outstanding for the first 4 rounds at least, he was hurting him at will and boxing circles round him until Thomposons strength started to tell, it wouldnt have taken Chris much to finish Carl off, this is what makes me laugh about Haye declaring how big a puncher he is, Chris decks an active defending champ 2 or 3 times after moving up from supermiddle, whereas Haye cant drop a 40 year old ruined version 6 years later.

I think Eubank embarasses Haye, maybe even now, he may have to come back as hes now even had to sell his lord title:(

To think Eubank came from being outhustled by Calzaghe at supermiddle to move up and come so close against a cruiser champ, he also took the rematch far too soon, only 3 months!!, his eye never got a chance to heal properly and after being well ahead on points the ref stops the fight after the 10th because his left eye was closed:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by ICB

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Originally Posted by Fenster

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Originally Posted by ICB

Yea it was obviously a balance issue, but i still remember Steve Collins landing a solid right hand to the body.

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I don't think it was solid shot.. it is on youtube?

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Its on this clip at 2:23 mark, from that angle it only looks like a glancing blow. But im sure when i had this fight, the replay showed it landing more solidly than that angle suggests. But maybe im thinking of another fight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0EBzBsrstk

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The shot that Eubank put Collins down with was a proper knockdown. Eubank went down from a body shot sue to balance. Benn was horribly wahed up by the time Collins got to him and I dont think Steve wanted any part of Calzaghe which would have been his chance to prove he could beat a prime fighter .

remember Collins KO Pyatt at middleweight in 5 rounds. At middleweight he could punch a bit.

Yep, Collins was having doubts about his chances with Joe and when with less than a couple of weeks to go he got beat up insparring by the smaller Howard Eastman and that put the shiits up him.

Eubank was scheduled to face Mark Prince at light heavy on the same card which was billed as "the full monty" I think, he took the chance to fight for the vacant title that Collins relinquished against Calzaghe, Eubank always had a lot of weight to shift, so that week before the fight hed have had between 4 and 7 pounds to get down to light heavy, let alone another 7lbs to face Calzaghe in his prime, so to have to lose over 10lb's in a week then try and outwork Joe Calzaghe over 12 rounds is a big ask but even now Joe still says that Eubank gave him his hardest fight, Chris also had Joe out on his feet in the final seconds;)

I think a prime Super middle Eubank at the very least loses a split decision against Joe, Eubank was an awesome fighter, he was put down as being arrogant and a ponce but youd be hard pushed to find a man as genuinely hard as Chris was;)

Collins was lucky he came along when he did and did a Haye and pulled out of a fight when he did;D

Did not realise that Eubanks was going to fight Mark Prince who was a big puncher and stood a good chance of beating Eubanks at light heavy.

id have rather seen the original card go ahead

Eubank vs Prince - Interesting fight . Eubank would have had tough fight and would have struggled but I think Prince' chin and stamina would have let him down late.

Calzaghe - Collins - Joe would have punched holes in Collins giving him the biggest beating of his career

I think joe would have definitely beat up Steve Collins. I knew a guy that worked with Eubank and said he was one of the biggest gentlemen he ever met. That arrogance was all show. My three favorite fighters of the 90's Joe Calzaghe, Steve Collins, and Chris Eubank. Poor Steve collins I think ended up with brain damage from the punching power of the Chris Eubanks, Nigel Benns, and Mike McCallumns. Went down in sparring as was mentioned training for a come back. The man was a warrior.

Does anyone know when he switched from Goodie Petronelli to Freddie Roach as a trainer?

Here is my case for Steve to be in the Hall, though I would not call him a big puncher:


The Case for Steve Collins in the Hall

Maybe it's my imagination, but Steve "Celtic Warrior" Collins seems to have been forgotten by those who cast votes at the Hall in Canastota. Let's examine this Dubliner's record and see if we can uncover the reasons.

Record: As an amature he won he won numerous Irish titles at junior heavyweight, light-heavyweight and middleweight before moving to and turning professional in Massachesetts in 1986 where he was trained by Boston-based Freddie Roach. He also worked out of the Brockton gym of the Boston-based Petronelli brothers who trained his idol Marvellous Marvin Hagler.

He won his first 16 professional bouts fighting out of the Boston area. His final professional record was 36-3 with 21 ko's.

Level of opposition: Extremely high.

Chronology: Among his early victims were Sam Storey (for the Irish Middleweight Title), ruggedTony Thorton and Kevin "Killer" Watts (for the USBA Middleweight Title.)

He lost to Mike McCallum in 1990 for the WBA Middleweight Title in a close fight I attended. He then rebounded with 5 straight victories including wins over over tough Eddie Hall and Dan Morgan. He lost a razor thin and controversial MD to Reggie Johnson and a close UD to Sumbu Kalambay.

A discouraged Collins finally won the WBA Penta-Continental Middleweight Title in 1993 by ko win over South African Gerhard Botes. A year later he garnered the WBO Middleweight Title by a KO over the very capable Chris Pyatt in South Yorkshire, England. He would go on to win 15 straight to close out his career (the last 5 by stoppage). More importnantly, during this streak, he fought and beat Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn twice. Benn, who had been though a gruelling battle with Gerald McClellan, quickly got the message that his punching power was not good enough to stop concretee-chin Collins.

Due to some brain scan issues, Steve found himself stepping into Ray Close’s shoes to meet Chris Eubank and he proceeded to beat the great English fighter twice. By the time he accomplisde this remarkable feat, he was the reigning W.B.O. Middleweight champ, a fact still overlooked to the present day.

In all, he would succesfuly defend his new Super Middleweight title 8 times before retiring in1997 with a TKO win over Craig Cummings, 34-2, in 3 rounds. Curiously, he had begun his career in 1986 with a 3 round tko over one Julio Mercado in Lowell, MA. Amazingly, he had book-ended his career with 16 in the beginning and 15 at the end with the TKO's as icing on the cake.

The quintessential professional, Steve was a road warrior having fought in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Northern Ireland, France, Italy, Atlantic City, Las Vegas, The Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey and in and around the Boston area. More to the point, he was an extremely tough, seasoned, iron-chined, determined and talented fighter who had long paid his dues training in the Boston area. He was considered to be one of the toughest pound-for- pound fighters of the late 90's having never been stopped in a high profile career.

One of his great regrets was to have never fought Roy Jones Jr. In fact, he is reported to have stated that he had spent so long chasing Roy, money was no longer an important factor and he would fight him in a phone box in front of two men and a dog. However, his attempts to get Roy into the ring ended when he collapsed during a training session. Medics told him to hang up his gloves for good and he did. Steve retired Northern Ireland and has pretty much maintained a low profile. Maybe this is the reason he has been overlooked by the Hall.

Nice read Holmcall

I've seen that case for Steve being in the hall before. I hope he does get in. That fight against McCallum was great. Mike McCallum is now training Chris eubank's son ironically!

No Collins wasn't a puncher by any means.
An attritional fighter really.



As for his induction into the HOF, I really can't see that being a good idea considering all the things he's done since retiring.

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Originally Posted by hitmandonny

No Collins wasn't a puncher by any means.
An attritional fighter really.



As for his induction into the HOF, I really can't see that being a good idea considering all the things he's done since retiring.

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And just what are those things? What do they have to do with the Hall of Fame. Does that mean Tyson doesn't get in? Liston should not be in? Etc.

Hell, boxing is the one business where what you do outside the ring dosen't matter.

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Originally Posted by holmcall

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Originally Posted by hitmandonny

No Collins wasn't a puncher by any means.
An attritional fighter really.



As for his induction into the HOF, I really can't see that being a good idea considering all the things he's done since retiring.

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And just what are those things? What do they have to do with the Hall of Fame. Does that mean Tyson doesn't get in? Liston should not be in? Etc.

Hell, boxing is the one business where what you do outside the ring dosen't matter.

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Thats true. Boxing is a hard man/tough guy sport that tends to attract hard men/tough guys!!

James Scott, Dwight Mohammed Quawii, Sonny Liston, iron Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson and mounds of others were first exposed to boxing in or as a result of some sort of penal/youth/correctional facility/program! That goes with the sport

I think Steve just falls short, as a lot of Fighters He was in the right place at the right time. One of mine lost a tight one to Him for the Title, He showed nothing then, except you had to be carefull of the Head ;D

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Originally Posted by holmcall

And just what are those things? What do they have to do with the Hall of Fame. Does that mean Tyson doesn't get in? Liston should not be in? Etc.

Hell, boxing is the one business where what you do outside the ring dosen't matter.

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Beat two wives and a girlfriend.
Broke a bouncers jaw outside a thronged nightclub.
Drunk and disorderly conduct when he was meant to be an "ambassador for boxing."
Thrown out of RTE as he was too abusive to be put on air.


Mike Tyson and Liston were universally recognised World Champs.
In his era, Collins Was always second to RJJ