BoxRec

We all see ourselves as boxing experts but all this they was old etc. is rubbish!! Collins fought & fell just short against great fighters like mcallum & reggie Johnson. I for one saw Michael Watson as the best of our trio & we saw what mcallum done to him & Collins plyed his trade in the toughest school. His win v Pyatt is overlooked & undermined & he knew Eubanks couldn't work the whole round and really took it to him & beat him fairly as for Benn he just bashed him up and was the guvnor!! For them who don't appreciate collins understand he mixed in better company prior & took advantage of a situation as herol graham would of been a world champion if the wbo was in place at he's time. I've Allways said the wbo was a European world title & Collins fell short @ the highest & took this silver title!! All bow before the Celtic warrior & pay homage Biatches xx

Personally think he is overated to be fair hard as nails but very overated.

The benn and eubank fights made him look good against over the hill benn and shop warn eubank.

He lost to the other decent world champs.

Pyatt was about 2 weights smaller when they boxed

Why have you made four replies to the same post, when you could have done it in one?

Collins got out at the right time.

Joe Calzaghe would have exposed him & ended his career.

He was tough, no doubt, but I'm not in agreement that he was an under appreciated talent.

I think Collins gets about as much respect as he deserves.

Yeah calzaghe would have made him look silly.

what collins lacked in skill he made up for focus and planning ... plus he looks f*cking mean

He must be the greatest of all time then.?

He showed that to me that your Toney's jones & Hopkins were a different level to Benn & Eubanks! He fell shirt & came back & was better then both of these & was older!!

And without the battles both benn and eubank had been put through

Was Watson ever the same after the mcallum mauling??
Eubanks never ever won that decision against him either

Overated but tough bastard. And you have to respect him going to America to learn his trade.

stevieb_8006 wrote:Overated but tough bastard. And you have to respect him going to America to learn his trade.

I think british fighters should do this on a regular basis!

He could and can box but just stuck it on the pair which was still no mean feat!!
When are people going to realise he mixed in better company & when is somebody who knows there stuff going to back me up??

Rexob wrote:The benn and eubank fights made him look good against over the hill benn and shop warn eubank.

here here, he made his name eating mutton instead of chewing on lamb.

I think Collins was underrated when he was still boxing because he had a few losses. However, he showed what he was made of when he came back and cleaned up against Chris, Nigel & Co. And no excuses, he beat them both fair and square as he did the other WBO challengers. As for Calzaghe, well we'll never know what would have happened, although we can have our opinions. Personally, I think it was a 50-50 fight at that stage of Joe's career. Joe would have given him fits with his speed, Collins would have come on strong down the stretch (like Eubank only more so).

It's true that Collins fell short against the likes of McCallum and Johnson, who would have been favoured to beat any of our domestic superstars of the time, he ran them both close though. Still, I think that by the time he retired, Collins had won the respect he deserved. I also think Collins is a good example of why an unbeaten record gets too much attention. The fact he wasn't unbeaten didn't mean he wasn't one of the top in that division (which he was in his day).

No huge fan of colljns but i must admit, the quality if his performance against McCallum gives me pause for thought. He did pretty darn well rounds circa 6-11, won maybe 4? More than Watson did, or Benn or eubank would, i m o.

He was by his own admission past his best when facing Benn and Eubank, but so were they. He made the most of his purple patch at the end, but Calzaghe was far too much for him.

hurlock wrote:He could and can box but just stuck it on the pair which was still no mean feat!!
When are people going to realise he mixed in better company & when is somebody who knows there stuff going to back me up??

I'm with you Too many people gloss over what he achieved in the States, such as giving a good account of himself against McCallum when he'd only been a pro for just over three years (and in his next fight the Bodysnatcher ruined a more experienced Michael Watson who was coming off his upset win over Benn).
Collins could box really, really well, as you rightly say, he just altered his style against Benn and Eubank to get the best result - another sign of his ability and ringcraft.

The older I get the more I understand that the lot of 'em were a bit overated cos Nigel was exciting and Chris charismatic. At no point in their careers could you realistically consider any of them the best in the world. With Watson and herol graham about (+ avoided) you could argue they weren't even the best in the country.

We were basically lucky to have a shit hot domestic scene that threw up great match ups. But at the time there were fighters like nunn, toney, jones jnr, mccallum, Hopkins, liles,kalambay....,etc. that's just off the top of my head I'm sure I've forgot a few. Guys like reggie Johnson that you wouldn't rule out springing an upset. Not with benns vulnerabilities.

They were great times and fights, but needed the rivalry to fuel it. I would be interested to find out if Americans feel they are greats or just foreign ticket sellers in the RJJ era. They were a sports journalists wet dream and the column inches enhanced the memories of they're fighting abilities. Not saying they were shit or anything, I loved them as much as anyone, but Chris particularly got a few gifts and could serve up snoozers. He's def viewed through rose tinted glasses. (I remember Nigel getting a gift vs malinga too).

stevieb_8006 wrote:The older I get the more I understand that the lot of 'em were a bit overated cos Nigel was exciting and Chris charismatic. At no point in their careers could you realistically consider any of them the best in the world. With Watson and herol graham about (+ avoided) you could argue they weren't even the best in the country.

We were basically lucky to have a poo hot domestic scene that threw up great match ups. But at the time there were fighters like nunn, toney, jones jnr, mccallum, Hopkins, liles,kalambay....,etc. that's just off the top of my head I'm sure I've forgot a few. Guys like reggie Johnson that you wouldn't rule out springing an upset. Not with benns vulnerabilities.

They were great times and fights, but needed the rivalry to fuel it. I would be interested to find out if Americans feel they are greats or just foreign ticket sellers in the RJJ era. They were a sports journalists wet dream and the column inches enhanced the memories of they're fighting abilities. Not saying they were poo or anything, I loved them as much as anyone, but Chris particularly got a few gifts and could serve up snoozers. He's def viewed through rose tinted glasses. (I remember Nigel getting a gift vs malinga too).

To be fair, Eubank himself has basically said exactly the same.

stevieb_8006 wrote:The older I get the more I understand that the lot of 'em were a bit overated cos Nigel was exciting and Chris charismatic. At no point in their careers could you realistically consider any of them the best in the world. With Watson and herol graham about (+ avoided) you could argue they weren't even the best in the country.

We were basically lucky to have a poo hot domestic scene that threw up great match ups. But at the time there were fighters like nunn, toney, jones jnr, mccallum, Hopkins, liles,kalambay....,etc. that's just off the top of my head I'm sure I've forgot a few. Guys like reggie Johnson that you wouldn't rule out springing an upset. Not with benns vulnerabilities.

They were great times and fights, but needed the rivalry to fuel it. I would be interested to find out if Americans feel they are greats or just foreign ticket sellers in the RJJ era. They were a sports journalists wet dream and the column inches enhanced the memories of they're fighting abilities. Not saying they were poo or anything, I loved them as much as anyone, but Chris particularly got a few gifts and could serve up snoozers. He's def viewed through rose tinted glasses. (I remember Nigel getting a gift vs malinga too).

Eubank getting up and doing watson after being pummeled all night just shows what Eubank was all about same with Benn with mclhellan (spell!) Both proved when under the biggest kind of heat possible collins ws just in the right place yhe right timk i think

It says a lot that no-one really wants to give Collins credit for beating Eubank, but in the next breath, they say that an even more weight drained Eubank was one of Calzaghe's greatest wins.

I think there is quite a bit of ignorance when it comes to Collins. Look at it this way; he was far better against McCallum than Michael 'oh, he was better than SRR' Watson.

Benn and Eubank are held up as some mythical Gods who would have destroyed Collins in their prime. Both had a fair few crappy nights and were far from elite. Eubank in-particular got more gifts than Ottke ever did.

Collins was a very good fighter, and people have a downer on him because they grew up Benn and Eubank fans, whilst Stevie was in the States. This was at a time that we didn't have SKY and allegedly showing us the fights from abroad.