Collins defends against Brown

AFTER a number of false starts, Stephen Collins has, at last, learned the name of thee next challenger for his World Boxing Organisation…

AFTER a number of false starts, Stephen Collins has, at last, learned the name of thee next challenger for his World Boxing Organisation super middleweight title. It will be Neville Brown from Burton on Trent who is the reigning British middleweight champion and the pair will meet in Millstreet in Cork on March 9th.

After several attempts to arrange what is in effect a warm up fight for a possible bout against the WBC champion Nigel Benn, the announcement was finally made yesterday in Dublin with the Cork brewing company, Beamish and Crawford, putting financial support behind the match as they did in the case of Collins's last two defences against Chris Eubank (Pairc Ui Chaoimh) and Cornelius Carr (Point Depot).

Collins admitted yesterday that he had been surprised by his own reaction to the rest which he took after his last fight. "I was amazed that I needed it so badly. Now I am back and ready to go again and I, find that I am refreshed and really looking forward to this fight.

"I have set up a training camp in Jersey in the Channel Islands and I am going there tomorrow. I believe that this is a very important fight for me and I am not going to make the mistake of taking anything for granted. The fight I want is against Nigel Benn but I must win this one, first.

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"Nobody in boxing takes any fight as a foregone conclusion. When two fighters go into the ring there are only two people there. It would be foolish to take anything for granted. I realise that this is a very important fight for Neville, the most important fight of his life. But it is an equally important fight for me.

"I cannot even think of defeat and quite honestly I am feeling as excited about this fight as about any other. It means another step for me. I cannot afford to lose. I also like the idea of going back to Millstreet where I won the title. I know the people there will give me a good reception and I look forward to it," he said.

Brown was in an equally upbeat mood. Reminded that Collins would not be the first Irishman encountered by him in the ring, he immediately recalled that he had fought Kieran Joyce in two amateur international contests, with each winning one.

"I realise that Steve Collins is the world champion, having beaten Chris Eubank twice. That is a very good record for anyone to have and I realise that it will not be easy for me.

"But I have just heard what Steve said about there being only two men in the ring and that is what gives me a good a chance as anyone else He is a much more experienced fighter," than I am but I have won 27 fights out of 32. There are no such things as easy fights. I am ready and I will take this chance as well as I can. It is vitally important to me," he said.

It came as a surprise to some that Brown will have the distinguished", Irish coach trainer, Brendan Ingle in his corner. The Ingle family from Ringsend were well represented at the press conference and Ingle, who at present has one of the world's most exciting boxers, Naseem Hamed in his Sheffield stable, said that he would enjoy the experience of plotting the downfall of a fellow Dubliner.

"I am intrigued by the prospect. It is something that I haven't experienced before. I have great respect for Steve and what he has done and, I am delighted that a fellow Dubliner has done so well. But I have, every confidence in Neville and we will have some surprises for Steve, when we get to Millstreet," Ingle said.

Earlier, the promoter of the fight Frank Warren, said that two boxers stood between Collins and Benn for a unification world title fight. Benn will meet Sugar Ray Malinga from South Africa in Newcastle one March 2nd and Brown fights Collins in Millstreet on March 9th. If either of those goes wrong for Benn or Steve it will be a new ball game but if things go otherwise Steve and Nigel have agreed to meet some time in the late spring or early summer," Warren said.

He also indicated that at least three other Irish boxers would be on the Millstreet bill - Michael Carruth, Paul Griffin and Mark Winters. "There will also be another title fight and we will be giving details of that some time next week," he said.