McGuigan believes Collins is silly to climb back in ring with Jones
by Rita O'Reilly
FORMER champion boxer Barry McGuigan yesterday said it was "foolhardy and silly," of Steve Collins to go back into the ring to fight Roy Jones.
Collins accepted that there was "a bit of truth" in claims that he is coming out of retirement to make money to keep up his standard of living, but he said he had always promised he'd don his boxing gloves again if a Roy Jones bout was in the offing.
McGuigan told Joe Duffy on RTE Radio's Liveline yesterday: "I think he's being foolhardy, I think he's silly taking a fight of this magnitude now. I take my hat off to him and I admire his courage...but I think he's being foolish."
Collins has credibility to gain, courage to show and money to pick up from fighting the WBC light-heavyweight champion, McGuigan admitted. But he's also got a lot to lose and he's up against an exceptional fighter, the Sugar Ray Leonard of the nineties.
In his heyday Steve would have had trouble going the distance with Jones.
"He is very quick-handed, very fast on his feet and has great hand-eye co-ordination, he's a banger.
"Boxing is about continuity, it's about keeping going, you can't give up for two years, especially if you're the type of fighter that Steve has always been.
"There's no secrets about Steve's style. He grabs the centre of the ring, he plants his feet in the middle and pitches his toes into the canvas and lets you have it.
"There's no subtleties about his style. He's an aggressive comeatcha type fighter and those are the type of fighters that Roy Jones loves." McGuigan said Jones's fleet footedness and speed meant he likes guys to come at him because then he can display his fabulous hand speed and his power.
"Steve is normally a very wise guy, I just don't think he's being very wise here," he said.
He did not think Collins, who won nine world title fights in a row before his retirement, will be able to recapture his sharpness.
"Each dog has his day. We all have a shelf life," McGuigan, who now works as a commentator for Sky Sports, said.
"This is a dangerous game, let's not forget that. He could get hurt, there's no doubt about that."
McGuigan, who retired at the age of 29, accepted his advice might fall on deaf ears. "He's laughing the whole way to the bank and I'm delighted for him and I hope he earns a fortune in it," he said of his compatriot's decision.
But Steve Collins said he had always said he would come out of retirement if he got the Roy Jones fight. "And why not?" go back into the ring, he asked.
"I believe I still have what it takes to beat Roy Jones," he said, adding that he would not go through any warm-up fights prior to the big bout, likely to take place in April.
And he said he still hasn't finalised the deal on exactly how much he will be paid for the fight : "The Rio Hotel in Las Vegas hope to stage the fight on April 17th, its opening night, but I'm hoping that a promoter over here will bring the fight back to Europe."
Both Sky and ITV have shown an interest in bringing the fight to Britain or Ireland, and Collins said he hoped a deal would be done by the end of the week.
He rejected the question mark over his decision as people being negative.
"What I've heard is a lot of opinions from people who I've not requested opinions from," he told Joe Duffy.
"The only opinion that would make any difference to me either way would be the opinion of my wife," he added.
And Collins accepted there was a little bit of truth in the claim that he is going back into the ring to keep up his standard of living, including the cost of keeping his 11 polo horses.
"Unfortunately, I've got involved in a hobby which is probably more expensive than bird-watching or fishing," he said, but ruled out selling some of his stock.
"If anything, I would like to buy better horses," Collins said.

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Collins was shocked into retirement
TRAINER Jimmy Tibbs has revealed that former world champion Steve Collins has been shocked into retirement after he collapsed during a sparring session on Monday.
The 34-year-old Irishman has decided to call it a day after falling face down on the canvas during a work-out with British middleweight champion Howard Eastman at the Lennox Lewis gymnasium in London.
Within minutes of the collapse, Collins, who has not boxed since July 1997, was rushed to hospital where he received tests and a brain scan which have given him the all-clear.
The former world middle and super-middleweight champion was set to return to the ring next month after nearly two years on the sidelines.
But Tibbs said: "When Steve got himself together after they had done the tests and he had been given the all-clear, we all agreed that the best thing for him to do was to stop boxing.
"I was delighted when he told me that he wouldn't be boxing any more. He said that he believed it was a warning for him and he needed that to make him stop boxing.
"He needed something like that to shock him into retirement. He's not skint and it's the right decision. Steve had said at the Press conference for his comeback that he wasn't coming back for the money.
"To see a tough guy like Steve Collins collapsing to the canvas like that was very frightening."
Collins was due to contest a non-title bout on the supporting bill to Joe Calzaghe's WBO super-middleweight defence against Rick Thornberry in Cardiff on June 5.
He had then lined up an autumn clash with the Welshman in an attempt to regain his old world title, with the Celtic Warrior promised a shot at WBC light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones if he won.
It is understood that Collins has returned home to Dublin where it is expected he will formally announce his retirement after a career in which he enjoyed epic victories over the likes of Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.
Eastman's trainer Ronnie Davies said: "I was terrified when I saw Steve falling forward onto the canvas.
"The strange thing is that I didn't see a punch land on Steve. But Howard said that before Steve collapsed he had caught him with a right on the top of the head.
"If there was a punch it couldn't have been that hard because we had told them to take it easy and they were wearing 18-ounce sparring gloves."
Collins won the WBO super-middleweight title in March 1995 by outpointing Eubank. He made seven successful defences, including a repeat victory over Eubank and two against Benn.
Collins' promoters, Sports Network Europe, said he was due to leave hospital yesterday evening. A spokesman yesterday afternoon said: "Steve Collins would like it to be known he is sitting up in bed and will be discharged from hospital later on today."

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Collins must wait on medics
by David Field
STEVE COLLINS wants to fight on, but the former WBO champion will leave the decision in the hands of the medical men.
A neurologist's report on Monday will dictate whether the Irishman has a future in the sport after being out of boxing for almost two years.
Collins described his collapse at the start of a sparring session with British middleweight champion, Howard Eastman, on Monday, as a black-out. He spent the night in Homerton Hospital, east London.
Collins underwent tests and a CAT scan. Yesterday, he said: ''I didn't feel good going into the ring and I should have been honest with my trainer Jimmy Tibbs.
''I felt as though my head exploded, I felt dizzy, I needed a rest. I more or less went on the floor and I sat up in the ring and I felt light-headed. I was not taking any punishment and the session had only just started. In layman's terms you could call it a black-out.
''I don't believe it is serious, it could be a blip or a warning.
''A neurosurgeon read me my results and advised me what to do, and asked to see me again on Monday. He didn't say anything about boxing. The decision on my future is not mine; it depends on what the doctors say. When I know the facts then it will be my decision.
''Of course I'd love to box on. But this certainly got my attention. It's not happened to me before in boxing, but I've had headaches when I've not been boxing.
''I've got some questions to ask the neurosurgeon, which he was not in a position to answer earlier this week after the initial tests.''
Whatever the conclusion of the neurosurgeon at Homerton Hospital, the British Boxing Board of Control would doubtless want to conduct their own tests before he fights again in the UK.
Collins was due to have his comeback fight in Cardiff on June 5, but that plan has now been abandoned.
The 34-year-old has not fought since stopping America's Craig Cummings in Glasgow in July 1997.
That was a seventh defence of the WBO super-middleweight crown he took from Chris Eubank more than two years earlier, and twice defended successfully against Nigel Benn.
Collins earned around £1.5 million from boxing, and lives in a £1 million house in a fashionable suburb of Dublin.

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