Spike O'Sullivan can bounce back, insists Steve Collins

Former two-weight world champion Steve Collins has insisted that Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan can bounce back following his loss to Chris Eubank Jr in London last Saturday night.

Cork native O’Sullivan was pulled out of the grudge fight by his corner after seven rounds of the bout, which Eubank had dominated. The Mahon middleweight produced a gutsy performance, however, testing Eubank’s chin with his own power while withstanding a number of big punches.

Trainer Paschal Collins, brother of Steve, made the call to halt the bout as 31-year-old O’Sullivan was believed to have picked up a perforated eardrum from a Eubank punch early on in the fight, with the Cork fighter’s balance upset as a result.

O’Sullivan’s loss came some 20 years after Steve Collins recorded back-to-back victories over Chris Eubank Sr, but the Mahon man was unable to produce his own upset against 26-year-old Eubank, who was a money-on pre-fight favourite.

“He just didn’t switch on and he wasn’t himself in the ring,” said Steve Collins. “The sparkle wasn’t there. He would have stood there with determination, toughness and heart and taken punishment for 12 rounds,” added the former world champion, who backed ‘Spike’ to rebuild his career after his brother’s sensible decision to halt the fight.

“There’s life after boxing, and we’ve got to think of his future, so we just pulled him out so we can go back to the drawing board and see what we can do in the future,” explained Collins.

O’Sullivan’s record dropped to 22-2 following his defeat, with the former Irish champion possibly set to return to America to revive his career after he takes a break from the ring.

The 31-year-old has a promotional agreement with Ken Casey of Celtic-punk band Dropkick Murphys and recorded five of his last six wins in the States.