Gloves off for Collins’ 15-year grudge fight

Steve Collins says he’s as “fit as a flea” as he gets ready for a “15-year grudge match” with Roy Jones.

Collins, who beat the likes of Chris Eubank and Nigel Been in a stellar career, retired in 1997 having failed to secure a bout with the American.

Now the former WBO middleweight and super middleweight champion seems set to get his wish at a yet-to-be-determined venue, once his doctors give him a clean bill of health.

“I’m very confident it will happen provided I’m happy with my medicals,” said Collins on RTÉ Radio last night. “If I don’t get 100% okay from my medicals, it’s not going to happen, I wouldn’t consider it.

“As regards promoters, we’ve got some serious contenders in there willing to put it on. We’ve just got to go with the best offer.

“I’ve a great feeling, going through the whole bout in my head about how I’m going to win and what I’m going to do.”

He insists this will not be a precursor to more fights.

“Roy Jones needs it more than me. He claims to be the best middleweight or super middleweight since Marvin Hagler but the one thing that comes up is that he never fought Collins.

“It’s not a comeback, it’s unfinished business. It’s like a 15-year grudge match. I’m not going to fight any young guys and there aren’t any 40-year-old contenders out there.”

Billy Walsh, head coach with the IABA’s High Performance Unit, was once a team-mate of Collins’ before the Dubliner moved to the paid ranks. He believes the 48-year-old is making a mistake.

“Steve is a year younger than me and my advice is that he should stay retired,” said Walsh.

“I remember I came back after four years out of the game when I was 32 and my father said to me ‘you don’t come back’. And he was right.”