Collins bandwagon rolls on

THE Steve Collins bandwagon continues to roll but, for a couple of minutes in the first round of his WBO super middleweight title defence in Glasgow on Saturday night, the wheels of the wagon looked in serious danger of falling off.

Collins, rightly respected as a tough and durable practitioner, was dumped on the seat of his kilt after only 14 seconds of the first round by the American challenger, Craig Cummings, thereby setting up what would have been a major upset.

Collins and his Celtic football club official kilt was given a typically Celtic welcome in the Kelvin Hall and the rather frail-looking Cummings seemed over-awed.

That turned out to be a wrong assessment of the situation. The American, a full-time fireman in Kansas City, was to prove, for a time at least that he was not afraid to face danger either inside or outside the ring.

As Collins came storming in from the very start Cummings backed away, summed up the situation and then stepped in to deliver a perfect right hook to the left of Collins's head and the Dubliner toppled backwards and went down for a count of eight.

Collins did not appear to be hurt and he grinned, albeit rather sheepishly, as the count was taken up but his grin faded quickly as he went about demolishing Cummings' challenge.

The American was far from being overwhelmed and he showed some impressive punching skills but Collins' superior strength and weight took a heavy toll and Cummings visited the canvas himself for a count of eight as Collins charged forward.

Indeed Collins was down again in the spectacular first round but the referee, Roy Francis from England, ruled that the Dubliner has slipped.

After that Collins took control.

Even though Cummings continued to show considerable durability and competence the greater experience of Collins backed up by boisterous support from a crowd of about 3,000 was an overwhelming plus in Collins' favour.

The American took several flurries of rights and lefts to the head body as Collins clearly went for the short, if far from scenic, route and it came as no surprise when the referee stepped in to stop the fight after one minute and 17 seconds of the third round.

The entire operation put some crucial questions before those who run the Word Boxing Organisation and people who promote fights like (this.

It was a miss-match in many ways and rescued from farce only by that spectacular right hook from Cummings which put Collins on the floor for only the third time in his career.

But that alone cannot take anything away from the record which Collins has set. He has now held world titles and middleweight and super middleweight and has had nob fewer than seven successful defences.

Without any question he is a durable, determined, single-minded and successful young man. When he is not being lured into publicity stunts and television commercials of a banal nature he is charming, quick witted and pleasant.

Nobody can blame him for being frustrated by the fact that he has, quite clearly, frightened off a number of lesser mortals who are unwilling to take on his challenges.

His nearest challenger in the WB sector of boxing is Juan Carlos Giminez and the organisation might insist that Collins should defend against him. Collins, and his promoter Frank Warren, feel that boxers from the WBA and WBC such as Frank Liles and Darius Michaelezewski would represent more lucrative opportunities and that is the way things are expected to go.

Whether either of them would have the stomach for a clash with Collins remains in the realm of doubt but Collins, at 34 does not have all that much time on his side and he must take fights of whatever calibre to keep his mind focussed and his body in shape.

Although the idea of a Dubliner fighting an unknown American in a comparatively small hall in Glasgow may seem rather ludicrous it cannot be denied that he won the Glasgow crowd's respect and they responded with a passionate rendition of what has become a Celtic football club anthem, The Fields of Athenry. All of which may not rule out the prospect of a return to Glasgow and a much bigger venue should the relationship between Collins, Warren and Sky Sport television bear further fruit.

Evander Holyfield yesterday offered forgiveness to Mike Tyson for biting off part of his ear - but ruled out a rematch on foreign soil. Holyfield said he was not angry with Tyson for the now-in-famous incident and had put it behind him.

"I laugh at it. Yes, he bit my ear. Now people call me the 'Real Meal.' It's comical, it's part of life," Holyfield said, referring to his boxing nickname "Real Deal". The champion added: "Hopefully the young fighters will learn something from this situation."