BoxRec

In Barney Eastwoods gym

He says everyone told him how hard Herol was to hit but that he was getting through all the time, loads of shots

INTERESTING

So what?

Ali used to get battered in sparring...

True champs don't come out with shit like that.

Collins get's,and has always got,far too much coverage given his genuine lack of fistic skill.
He was lucky he caught Eubank on the slide.

Collins also claims he clearly beat Reggie Johnson and Sumbu Kalambay, I haven't seen those fights.

But I've seen the McCallum fight, where Collins claims he was a '16-fight novice going in with one of the true greats and atleast deserving a draw', and McCallum thoroughly schooled him.

I have to say it's very difficult to imagine Collins even living with Bomber fella! But then again, Bomber fella probably hadn't ever seen a Collins - someone so unrefined lunging in like that. Also consider this would have been probably around '91/'92, when Bomber fella was clearly on the slide. But then again, Collins is a delusional prick so he's probably just talking out his ass.

Collins lost a close but legit decision against Johnson and was thoroughly whipped by Kalambay.

It was an embarassing performance by Steve, as Kalambay was ancient and pretty much washed up, yet turned in a defensive masterclass adn completely made a monkey of him.

He was even outfighting him on the inside and staggered him badly with anuppercut in the mid-rounds.

Ritchie Woodhall said that bomber Graham was even harder to hit in sparring than it looked in matches.Ritchie used Herol in sparring for some of his southpaw matches and even at that advanced stage said you just couldnt get to him till the 5th or 6th round when he tired.

It could well be true, anything can happen in the gym, it's just sparring. Maybe Herol was out of shape or just had a bad 'day at the office' who knows.

Either way it means little.

Collins was a good, strong, tough fighter but Benn and Eubank were both past their best when Collins beat them and I am sure Collins would admit this.

STP wrote:Collins also claims he clearly beat Reggie Johnson and Sumbu Kalambay, I haven't seen those fights.

But I've seen the McCallum fight, where Collins claims he was a '16-fight novice going in with one of the true greats and atleast deserving a draw', and McCallum thoroughly schooled him.

I have to say it's very difficult to imagine Collins even living with Bomber fella! But then again, Bomber fella probably hadn't ever seen a Collins - someone so unrefined lunging in like that. Also consider this would have been probably around '91/'92, when Bomber fella was clearly on the slide. But then again, Collins is a delusional prick so he's probably just talking out his ass.

Collins started well v Reggie but was having his head absolutely jerked back by the light hitting lefty.

Kalambay had far too much finesse. Though Collins' workrate bothered Kal, the Italian hardly took a flush shot and gave Steve a bit of a body beating. BN back in the day had Kalambay by 1 point. Seeing on vhs, I had him at least 3 up.

Collins troubled McCallum late yet didn't win more than 4 rounds IMO.

STP wrote:Collins also claims he clearly beat Reggie Johnson and Sumbu Kalambay, I haven't seen those fights.

But I've seen the McCallum fight, where Collins claims he was a '16-fight novice going in with one of the true greats and atleast deserving a draw', and McCallum thoroughly schooled him.

I have to say it's very difficult to imagine Collins even living with Bomber fella! But then again, Bomber fella probably hadn't ever seen a Collins - someone so unrefined lunging in like that. Also consider this would have been probably around '91/'92, when Bomber fella was clearly on the slide. But then again, Collins is a delusional prick so he's probably just talking out his ass.

Collins' boxing ability is overlooked- his "unrefined lunging" was in his later days, when he was getting maximum exposure on ITV. When he fought McCallum, Kalumbay etc he was a pure boxer, and even though he was good at it, this style wasn't gonna win him a world title or make him rich IMO.

Collins should be fair & also bring up how Howard Eastman laid him out cold in the gym in 2000 & ended his comeback delusions.

overhand_right wrote:Collins should be fair & also bring up how Howard Eastman laid him out cold in the gym in 2000 & ended his comeback delusions.

what!??! care to elaborate?

Yes Collins was making a comeback for a big money fight with either RJJ or Calzaghe, so he got back in the gym and worked out with Eastman, who promptly iced him, i think in the first rd of sparring, a first for Stevie boy who decided not to pursue a comeback after being brutally stretched with i think 16 ounce gloves & headguards.

overhand_right wrote:Yes Collins was making a comeback for a big money fight with either RJJ or Calzaghe, so he got back in the gym and worked out with Eastman, who promptly iced him, i think in the first rd of sparring, a first for Stevie boy who decided not to pursue a comeback after being brutally stretched with i think 16 ounce gloves & headguards.

I’ve heard pretty much the same, although I didn’t know that Steve was flattened, not that I doubt the story.

I’m sure I’ve read Steve saying he took a bit of a shellacking from Eastman in that famed sparring session.

Tom Podmore.

Eastman might be the GOAT in the gym because in 1997 he battered Chris Eubank from pillar to post, knocked Herol Graham out cold and broke Tommy Hearns's nose causing him to quit!

Ronnie Davies went on record in saying that Eastman had the best combinations of any British fighter he'd ever seen and that he was better than Eubank ever was and would be a 'shoe-in' to take out Calzaghe.

Mind you though, Froch has always apparently handled Howard with ease in the gym.

STP wrote:Eastman might be the GOAT in the gym because in 1997 he battered Chris Eubank from pillar to post, knocked Herol Graham out cold and broke Tommy Hearns's nose causing him to quit!

Is this all true?

Yep.

Those men were all corpses by 97.

Especially Hearns and Graham, who did amazingly well on his brief comeback considering he had almost nothing left.

yiddo14 wrote:So what?

Ali used to get battered in sparring...

True champs don't come out with shit like that.

Collins get's,and has always got,far too much coverage given his genuine lack of fistic skill.
He was lucky he caught Eubank on the slide.

at the end of the day it all comes down to good management if eubank diddn,t struggle so much for the weight he would of stood collins on his head

Sparring doesn't account for much. Just a load of old waffle.

Some out and out shite being chatted here but this is just symptomatic of the way you all overate the Benns and Eubanks...

Collins performances against Johnson and Mccallum are far better than anything that Watson did! great performances by a novice pro..you didnt see the 'great' Michael Watson pushing McCallum so close did you?

Sadly for Collins Benn came to America and as Collins put it 'he got all my fights'

What do you all think Collins would have done to Doug De Witt? Dont answer in fact, its too obvious...

Lets get onto Eubank-Collins.. Collins beats him every day of the week, Eubank couldnt cope with the workrate, he took to many rests..Collins just executed Ray Close' strategy even better than Ray Close did..

Bomber was a good fighter, very good but its a myth that he was this Willie Pep of the Middleweights, he was beatable and to denigrate Collins' claims that he beat him up in sparring is ignorant..

Collins is the number 1 of the gang of 4..no doubt

Yes, but Collins claiming he deserved at least a draw with McCallum and clearly beat Johnson and Kalambay shows just how much stock you can put in his word alone.

So Collins did well in sparring against a past it Graham?... big deal!!.... in his prime Graham would have stood Collins on his head!!...

I would say the Johnson fight was very very close, and the judges agreed with me..

I would agree sometimes that Collins doesnt help himself, he comes across as a self opinionated prick on occasions..I just get annoyed that there seems this obsession with bashing him(some of the comments on here have been shocking) just cos he had the audacity to beat Nigel and Chris..

Its Bugner syndrome

silkov wrote:So Collins did well in sparring against a past it Graham?... big deal!!.... in his prime Graham would have stood Collins on his head!!...

Blah blah blah..and then Graham would have gone on to outbox the Incredible hulk before finishing off with a career best performance against Robocop..

For those who said Kalambay was shot before he beat Collins..just remember that there was only 7 months between Kalambay beating Collins and wait for it.....Kalambay beating Bomber Graham...

thepocketrocket wrote:

silkov wrote:So Collins did well in sparring against a past it Graham?... big deal!!.... in his prime Graham would have stood Collins on his head!!...

Blah blah blah..and then Graham would have gone on to outbox the Incredible hulk before finishing off with a career best performance against Robocop..

For those who said Kalambay was shot before he beat Collins..just remember that there was only 7 months between Kalambay beating Collins and wait for it.....Kalambay beating Bomber Graham...

Oh grow up, I respect Collins mate but he's just turned into a sad wino these days boasting about sparring sessions etc... if you cant see that both Eubank and Benn were well past their best when Collins got to them then you're dumber even than you seem!...