Collins keeps the door ajar

Eight year-old Stevie Collins was sitting on his father's bed yesterday morning looking at the newspaper photographs and reports…

Eight year-old Stevie Collins was sitting on his father's bed yesterday morning looking at the newspaper photographs and reports plastered across the sports pages when, with all the profundity of a boy of his years, he asked: "Dad? Does this mean that you are going to get a job?"

The query made Steve Collins smile and also made him reflect on the consequences of his decision to retire.

Later, the former WBO middle and super middleweight boxing champion said that his tearful announcement of his retirement in London on Thursday afternoon had taken him by surprise.

"I had been considering the matter for several weeks, months in fact, and when the tears came I could scarcely believe it. I was taken completely by surprise," he said.

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Reflecting on his 25 years in boxing - since he was the same age as his son is now - he said his only regrets were that he had trusted too many people who had not deserved his trust. "I have a few more fights to face, but they will be in court, not in the ring" he said. "I trusted people that I should not have trusted," he said. Yet the possibility of another appearance of the Celtic Warrior in the ring has not been totally ruled out. In response to persistent questioning at a press conference in Dublin yesterday, Collins left the door open for a comeback.

"The fight I really wanted was the one against Roy Jones. Frank Warren did everything in his power to get the fight on, but Jones wasn't interested and now I don't believe it will happen." He admitted, however, that if Jones succumbed to persuasion within the next six months or so "the temptation" would be there to agree to the light on which hen had set his heart. He also referred to upcoming court cases involving three of his former promoters, Barry Hearn and brothers Pat and Goody Petronelli. "I could be left with nothing if those cases go against me and then I would have to look at my options," he said. In his last two fights, against Neville Browne in Millstreet and Craig Cummings in Glasgow, he said his heart wasn't in it. "I took those fights because Frank Warren promised me that he would get me a fight with Roy Jones and that I would have to keep in shape.

"There was a serious lack of motivation for me in those bouts and I knew that it would be the same in the Joe Calzaghe fight, even before the foot problem ruled it out. The question I asked myself was, am I willing to motivate myself or was I prepared to take part in a charade. "I was emotional when I made the final decision, but with every hour that goes by I feel happier and more relaxed. I can take my son to play football and I can become a full-time dad and husband.

"As for the future I have had many offers and requests to do things inside and outside boxing, but I am leaving all that aside for the moment. I need some time with my family. I am flattered by those offers and I am glad not to have to take any more punches to the head," he said. He said that he felt Chris Eubank was making a mistake by coming back into the ring. "Boxing is a dangerous game and it is better to retire too early than too late. I met some famous old boxers in London yesterday and some of them were sad cases. I have my health and my fitness and my family and that makes me happy and content," he said. He had no doubt about the fact that the first Chris Eubank fight in Millstreet was the highlight of his career. "I really enjoyed that. Nobody gave me a chance and I won. The celebrations were marvellous, the whole thing was wonderful."

Insofar as the possibility of a job in boxing outside the ring, he said that he would like to help his younger brother Paschal and Michael Carruth to achieve what he had achieved. "I believe that both of them can go far and I am willing to help, if I can," he said. Yet, in spite of the fact that this was definitely a retirement occasion, the feeling persists that the future could well be seriously coloured by forces outside Collins' control - namely the attitude of Roy Jones in the United States and High Court judges in Dublin.