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Looking at Steve Collins record it looked impressive with wins over Benn and Eubank albeit not in there primes but 2 greats
around that time I was very busy and couldnt follow boxing as closely as I did previously or as I do now.. but 3 losses all early on and retireing with a good string of victories, did he have a career ending injury? or did he walk away on his own? or was he at the right place and right time?
Thanks
He had detached retina which forced him to retire some say he was at right place at right time but i think Eubank victory's was impressive but i don't think Benn victory's were because Benn in first meeting twisted his ankle and had to quit fight plus he was shell of his former self after that brutal war with Gerald.Quote:
Originally Posted by JT Rock
He came close to fighting Joe,and then collapsed in training,he was told to pack it in
He didnt just collapse, Howard Eastman helped him to the deck.
Take alook at Eubanks record leading up to the Collins fight and you can see why he fought a little jaded http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=000804
Also I wish I had the clip of Collins sagging on the ropes on his arse, only for Chris to stand off and let him back in to it and Craig Cummings who Prince Badi Adjamu just beat put Collins on his arse in the first, that was Collins last fight before he pulled out at short notice of a defence against Calzaghe that Eubank stood in at a weeks notice, only to have to lose 20lbs in 7 days !!
He wanted Jones,had been promised Jones,at the last second they make him take Joe,Doctors told him to continue might kill him
Two great quotes
On Jones
"Id fight him in a phone booth in front of two men and a dog"
On Calzeghe
"Joe is a good up-and-coming kid, but he wouldn't fill a parish church".
He was fit to fight vs Joe he didnt have a detatched retina or collapse he just pulled out cuz he says his heart wasnt in it. Then he considered a comeback and that was when he collapsed.
He was a good fighter but got Benn and Eubank at the right time
Well, 'The Celtic Warrior' was just that a warrior. He always fought his heart out never leaving anything for the next fight.
In his fight against McCallum he was just outclassed he only had 16 fights at the time but even then he showed he belonged in the ring.
In his fights against Johnson it was a gutsy performance & the Kalambay fight I've never seen so I can't comment on that.
When he faced Pyatt for the WBO belt, Pyatt was working on his 4th defense of the title and AGAIN Collins entered as the underdog to a title fight as he already had against McCallum & Johnson. He dismantled Pyatt and captured the title I read an article on that fight were it was said that Collins was lucky that night. I don't think so he fought well and did his job.
The 1st tear up with Eubank was just great, he showed heart and determination. the 2nd was a coin toss in the end I think they got the righ winner.
The Benn fights were gimmies I mean ODLH fought JCC, Holmes fought Ali it happens, it's part of the sport. He performed at top class in those 2 figthts and settled in there.
I still wish he and Liles would have met around '96....
Anyway!!!
A lot of people don't know much about Collins since he isn't as celebrated as other SMW but IMO he has been the best SMW of times....
He was in the movie Lock Stock and two smoking barrels for a couple seconds he was the bouncer of a club.
He was also in a U2 music video I forget the name of the song he also just comes out for a few seconds....
Let me check YouTube see if I can find it.
Heres the U2 video (Collins is in the green shirt ;) )
[youtube=425,350]gHbxq9gGe6I[/youtube]
Heres a short film on Steve Collins.
[youtube=425,350]u0EBzBsrstk[/youtube]
He was there at the right time, like everybody else is and made the most of it. If you went to see Steve fight you were gauranteid a fight, good value, top Lad.
CC Mick for the creepy music video
He pretended he was hypnotised ;)
- prolly the most famous sports prank of all-time! Really fucked Chris's head up ;D
#160s on me Boom Boom....Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomBoom
Yeah! that Bono for you always different.
Mind you, nobody had ever heard of Collins before that debacle.Quote:
Originally Posted by WWatt
Steve Collins is a classic example of a good honest strong contender, in an ideal boxing world would never have been a WORLD champion.
Honest pro but not a great.
Eubank and Benn both past sellby dates.
Pyatt was a joke , Craig Cummings etc HEY HE WAS PROMOTED BY FRANK WARREN !!! THAT EXPLANES THE CRAPPY WORLD TITLE OPONANTS = HAS BEENS AND SHOULDNT HAVE BEEN THERE !!!!!!!!!
Word is that he was getting beaten up by juniors in sparring before the Calzaghe fight and hence pulled out
Don't know how much truth there is in that :-\
I heard Freddy Roach and Steve Collins have the same Father.... Some Irish guy called Micky Ward ???
Who knows eh?
Apparently (i read somewhere), Collins old trainer (or his trainers old instructions) forced him to fight too technically and it never seemed to pay dividens when it matterd (his early losses).
Collins was never entirely ragged, but when he let it hang out a bit more he kinda found himself. ^-^
Even grew a goatee for added effect :P
I remember he took an Irish news crew to Roy Jones's house in Pensacola! Think it was early '99 when Collins said he'd only come out of retirement for Jones. Jones shut the door on them.
Seriously though, the guys a fruitcake. He still think he'd have beaten Roy Jones.
He said in the post-fight interview at Mill Street "Not only am I the greatest Irish fighter ever, but I'm the best pound-for-pound in the world!" :laugh:
Guy couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag, and just seemed to have zero talent.
Thanks for the info guys! Everyone of you that responded recieved a :coolclick: ;)
:coolclick:Quote:
Originally Posted by JT Rock
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 26 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 Brocton 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), rugged Tony 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-fo- 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.
I remember that well i had a bet on eubank knocking him out in that round i was screaming at the telly at the time.... it was rd 10 by the way ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by ross
was never that big one colins really and am of the opinion he ducked Calzaghe bigtime.
I think Collins knew that every tool that could beat him, Calzaghe possesed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saddo
I think Collins new it was just the right time to get out of the sport don't think Calzaghe bothered him at allQuote:
Originally Posted by G0MEZ
Ok, he knew after all the promoting of his defence versus Calzaghe that it was time to pull out.
It was after he had a few too many beatings by sparring partners and knowing that Joe had quick hands and apparent power that persuaded him to run for the hills, at leasy eubank had the balls to drop 20lbs in a week and give it a shot.
Eubank had Joe the most hurt hes ever been in the dying seconds of that fight
I remember being a Eubank fan and after seeing the 4 or 5 televised Calzaghe fights before hand that Joe was shite and Chris would have enough skill (even drained) to see him off.
Joe did alot better than I expected, and Chris seemed to have nothing, fighting off the ropes
CC#56 on me Ted....Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted The Bull
Very well said :appl: