Andy Heilman vs. Nate Collins (1st meeting)
Andy Heilman 161 lbs beat Nate Collins 157 lbs by TKO at 2:12 in round 8 of 10
- Date: 1967-02-27
- Location: Oakland Arena, Oakland, California, USA
- Referee: Vern Bybee 8-0.01
- Judge: Rudy Ortega 7-1
- Judge: Elmer Costa 10-0.01
"Last night at the new Oakland Arena, Andy (Kid) Heilman slammed away while blood gushed from his cut right eye, stopping Nate Collins in the 8th round. The referee stopped the fight with Collins cornered against the ropes and unable to defend himself. Today Collins is in St. Mary's Hospital suffering from dizziness. His condition, however, is not serious. All fights are fierce when Heilman is a participant because his aggressive style arranges this. And last night he fought a guy who had the punch to take him out with one shot. Andy was almost floored by a lightning right to the chin in the 2nd round. But he staggered back to beat his man inside and outside. He outjabbed him, outhooked him, out banged him and even outbled him. And the fans loved every rock 'em, sock 'em moment of the battle." -San Mateo Times
- Promoter Don Chargin attempted to lure Emile Griffith to the west coast to defend his middleweight title against Heilman at the outdoor Oakland Coliseum for July 17th of this year. Eventually they did meet twice but the title was never on the line.
- It took 7 stitches to close the wound on Heilman's right eye
- Unofficial San Mateo Times scorecard - 9-0 Heilman
- Unofficial Oakland Tribune scorecard - 8-1 Heilman
- Attendance - 7,062
- Gate - $34,794
Post-fight comments
- "That right hand rattled my teeth. I just got careless but I was in good shape and recovered quickly." -Andy Heilman, on the right hand that hurt him in the 2nd round.
- "I fought his fight, I don't know why. I planned to jab but I held back, that's the reason I lost." -Nate Collins
- "Because, he doesn't make faces. He doesn't dance. He doesn't clown. He doesn't complain. All he does is fight." -Promoter Don Chargin, when asked why Heilman was so popular.