Tom Collins (born 1 July 1955) is British former
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
who held the British and European
light heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
titles and fought for three world titles.
Career
Born in
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
, Collins was based in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
. He began his professional career in 1977 and won his first six fights before suffering his first defeat in May 1978 to
Harald Skog
Inge Harald Skog (born 22 August 1949) is a Norwegian boxer. He competed in the men's light heavyweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as ...
. In December 1978 and January 1979 he twice fought
Dennis Andries
Dennis Andries Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 5 November 1953) is a British former professional boxer who fought at light heavyweight.
Professional career
Andries turned pro in 1978 and won the WBC Light Heavyweight Title in 1986 in a ...
who was at a similar stage in his career, Andries winning both fights. In February 1980 he won his first title, taking the
BBBofC Central Area light heavyweight title with a first round stoppage of Greg Evans.
In March 1981 he beat
Karl Canwell in an eliminator for
Bunny Johnson's British title, and beat Andries on points a year later to take the title vacated by Johnson.
[Silkov, Peter (2013)]
Dennis Andries: The Journeyman Who Became A Three-Time World Champion.
, ''The Boxing Tribune'', 27 August 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015[Andries Bids for Title and Revenge]
, ''The Glasgow Herald
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
'', 26 January 1984, p. 17. Retrieved 11 March 2015 He defended the title successfully in May 1982 against
Trevor Cattouse
Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish lang ...
, stopping the challenger in the fourth round. He made a second successful defence in March 1983 against
Antonio Harris and a month later beat
Alex Sua on points in an eliminator for the Commonwealth title. The third defence of his British title came in January 1984 against Andries, and Andries took the title on points.
In a rematch three months later Andries won by the same result.
When Andries vacated the title, Collins got a chance to regain it when he faced
John Moody at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
in March 1987; Collins stopped Moody in the tenth round to become British champion for a second time.
In November 1987 he challenged for
Alex Blanchard's EBU European title, winning via a second round stoppage to become European champion.
[Ingram, Brian S. (2012) ''Australian Boxing World Champions'', Xlibris, , p. 246] Collins was due to fight
Charles Williams for the
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
world light-heavyweight title in February 1988, but the fight was called off by promoter
Frank Warren due to the IBF's insistence that it should be fought over 15 rounds, with the BBBofC refusing to sanction a fight of more than 12 rounds. The first defence of his European title came in May 1988 against
Mark Kaylor
Mark Kaylor (born 11 May 1961) is a former professional British boxer.
Kaylor was born in Canning Town but from the age of nine was brought up in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. Kaylor won the British schoolboy title the first year he was eligible ...
. Collins knocked Kaylor out in the ninth round. Collins lost the European title in September when he was stopped in the seventh round by
Pedro van Raamsdonk
Pedro Johannes van Raamsdonk (born October 2, 1960 in Amsterdam, North Holland) is a retired boxing, boxer from the Netherlands, who competed for his native country at the Boxing at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Ang ...
.
Having relinquished the British title, he won it for a third time in March 1989 with a second round stoppage of defending champion
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4.
As a co-founder o ...
.
In October 1989 Collins travelled to Australia to challenge
Jeff Harding for the
WBC world light-heavyweight title. After two rounds in which the fighters had traded heavy blows, Collins failed to come out for the third.
Collins' $25,000 purse was initially withheld but was paid the following month.
In August 1990 Collins regained the European title with a ninth round knockout of
Eric Nicoletta
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
. He successfully defended the title in December 1990 against
Christophe Girard, and in May 1991 fought
Leeonzer Barber
Leeonzer Barber (born February 18, 1966 in Detroit) was an American professional boxer who held the WBO light-heavyweight title from 1991 to 1994.
Professional career
Barber turned pro in 1986. In just his 13th fight he won the vacant WBO light ...
for the vacant
WBO world light-heavyweight title; Collins retired at the start of the sixth round.
His next four fights included three losses and one draw, but in August 1993 he challenged
Johnny Nelson
Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson (born 4 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005, and has since worked as a boxing analyst. He is currently the longest reigning world cruiserweight champion of all time, ...
for the World Boxing Federation world
cruiserweight title; Nelson stopped him in the first round.
[Sporting Digest: Boxing]
, ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 11 August 1993. Retrieved 11 March 2015 This was Collins' final professional fight.
References
External links
Career recordat boxrec.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Tom
1955 births
Living people
English male boxers
Light-heavyweight boxers
Cruiserweight boxers
Martial artists from Leeds