Steve Collins has changed his mind about his next title defence and will, after all, meet the Welsh challenger, Joe Calzaghe, in Sheffield on Saturday, October 11th. The change of mind may have something to do with the change of venue and the putting together of a very attractive 10-bout bill which has been sold to Sky TV by promoter Frank Warren. The bill will be topped by `Prince' Naseem Hamed's defence of his WBO featherweight title.
Collins had been scheduled to fight Joe Calzaghe on September 6th in Widnes - a venue which doesn't exactly set the boxing pulses racing. Collins turned up at a press conference in London, called to announce the fight, but walked out saying that he would not take the fight. Since then there have been several meetings between himself and Warren and the change of venue, as well as the sale of the TV rights to Sky, has changed the playing pitch to such an extent that Collins has agreed to fight. Presumably, it will be a much bigger pay-day for the Dublin fighter.
The presence of Naseem on the bill in Sheffield, his first appearance on home territory for nearly four years, guarantees a sell-out crowd and lucrative television revenue for rights to the fight which will be shown in 60 different countries. The bill will be a pay-per-view event on Sky Sports in Ireland and Britain.
Among the other bouts on the October 11th bill will be a British light welterweight title fight between Mark Winters, the former Irish amateur international from Antrim, and Carl Wright from Liverpool. Winters is unbeaten in 11 professional bouts to date.
The Warren organisation says that the Sheffield bill will consist of 10 bouts with titles at stake in each bout. If the WBO gives its approval, Ryan Rhodes, another of Brendan Ingle's charges in his Sheffield gym, will take on Otis Grant from Montreal for the vacant WBO middleweight title. It is hoped that the WBO heavyweight champion, Herbie Hyde, will also defend his title. Hyde is mourning the death of his younger brother, Alan, from leukemia recently and a decision about his participation will not be taken until later. "With 10 title fights the public will surely get their money's worth," said Warren yesterday. "We have been hoping to give the Sheffield fans an opportunity of seeing Naz fight in his own back yard and this is what we have done. It should be a great night's boxing and will be shown in over 60 countries to an audience of several million people," he said.
