Nathaniel Collins Excited To Clear Doubts In Cristobal Lorente Rematch
Nathaniel Collins is delighted that he will have the chance to kill two birds with one stone when he meets Cristobal Lorente again, in a final eliminator for the WBC featherweight title.
In October, Collins (17-0-1, 8 KOs) and Lorente (20-0-3, 8 KOs) battled to a 12-round split draw in Glasgow during a main event tussle for the Spaniard's European title.
A rematch always appeared likely and with the former British and Commonwealth 126-pound champion ranked No. 1 by the WBC and Lorente sitting at No. 3, the sanctioning body have decided the return will have world title ramifications for the winner.
A date and venue for the fight have yet to be announced.
Two weeks ago, Collins was part of a complicated scenario that involved former WBC 126-pound champion Stephen Fulton, interim beltholder Bruce Carrington, and champion in recess, Rey Vargas.
Last weekend, Fulton travelled to San Antonio, Texas to unsuccessfully challenge O’Shaquie Foster for the WBC junior lightweight belt. The 31-year-old missed weight and the two somehow ended up boxing for the interim 135-pound title.
On Friday, it was announced that Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) would take on Carlos Castro (30-3, 14 KOs) for the belt Fulton vacated. The 12-round fight will act as the chief support to the junior welterweight showdown between Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson on January 31. DAZN will broadcast “The Ring 6" live from New York's Madison Square Garden.
The picture has cleared considerably. Collins knows that if he beats Lorente in their rematch, he will get a shot at the WBC title.
"Yeah, it came as a little bit of a surprise, but that was kind of where I think they were heading. Everybody else is kind of tied up now, so I think that was the option," the 29-year-old Scotsman told The Ring.
"There's always going to be Lorente, which obviously I'm glad about because I can get my revenge.
"A straight world title shot would have been good but, obviously, other plans have come about. I feel like I won that first fight and don't think I've met anybody yet that doesn't think I won that - this is a chance to actually prove what I'm about and get that win."
The lessons that Collins learned during the first Lorente meeting should prove invaluable.
The Bearsden southpaw got off to a quick start and held the lead at the halfway point but Lorente refused to go away and steadily upped his output.
Rather than utilising his speed and footwork, Collins decided to go punch for punch with the Spaniard and what looked like being a comfortable night's work became a hard-fought, pitched battle.
Plenty of fighters make snap decisions or root and branch changes after a disappointing result but Collins knows exactly where he went wrong.
Once the disappointment had eased and he spent some time analysing exactly what had happened, he was left with an appreciation that at the highest level there are times to fight and other instances to rely on his skill and boxing ability.
"I think if I'd just boxed the way I boxed the first six rounds, it would have been an easy night," he said.
"Actually, I was watching Abdullah Mason and Sam Noakes fight a couple of weeks ago and Mason's corner were saying, 'If you just box this, it's an easy fight' and he was just wanting to prove something. I think you get that with people, they can be world-class but just want to prove something."
