Despite announcing that he was to have a grudge match against Roy Jones Junior, it looks as though Steve Collin’s dream bout will not now take place at all.
By Declan Whooley
Back in January, the 48 year-old stunned pretty much everyone when he told Andy Gray and Richard Keys on talkSPORT that despite being out of the ring for 14 years, was looking forward to a bout with a man who he claimed was always ‘running scared’ of the ‘Celtic Warrior’.
But now that idea looks to have been KO’D, with Collins brother Roddy telling the Irish Examiner that the fight is now off.
“No, no, that’s never going to happen, that’s off,” the current Athlone manager told the paper.
“Yeah, they did talk and maybe it was a possibility briefly. After all, it was all that was left for Steve and it’s in his blood to fight and he had always wanted that shot.”
While there were many reservations aired at the time given the age of both fighters and the fact both fighters are a long way from their prime -the American has fought just five times in the past four years, losing three times and twice by way of knock-out – the news will come as a relief to many.
Some sources have also suggested that administrators in both England and Ireland were reluctant to sanction the fight.
“It’s dead and buried and I’m happy with that. It’s best to leave it be because Steve will always be the champ and at 48, it’s a non-starter,” the football manager added.
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