Steve Collins: The Celtic Warrior Who Beat Eubank and Benn Twice Each

Steve Collins learned his trade in Brockton, Massachusetts, under the trainers who made Marvin Hagler, and lost three times on his way up. He finally won a world title at 29. Over the next three years he beat Chris Eubank twice and Nigel Benn twice, then retired as WBO super-middleweight champion without ever getting the Roy Jones Jr. fight he kept asking for.

From Cabra to the Petronelli Gym in Brockton

Stephen Collins was born on 21 July 1964 in Cabra, a working-class district on the north side of Dublin. He was a decorated amateur. Wikipedia credits him with 26 Irish titles across age groups and weights. When he turned professional in October 1986, he did it in Massachusetts rather than at home.

In Brockton he worked out at the gym run by Goody and Pat Petronelli, the brothers who had guided Marvin Hagler to the undisputed middleweight championship. Hagler was still training there, and Collins shared the gym with him. His debut came on 24 October 1986 at the Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, where he stopped Julio Mercado in the third round. Most of his early fights were in Boston, with a few in Atlantic City. In March 1988 he outpointed Sam Storey over ten rounds at the Boston Garden to win the Irish middleweight title. A year later he beat Kevin Watts in Atlantic City for the USBA middleweight belt.

Three Defeats on the Way Up: McCallum, Johnson and Kalambay

With a 16-0 record, Collins challenged Mike McCallum for the WBA middleweight title on 3 February 1990 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. A large Irish-American crowd backed him, but McCallum took a unanimous decision over twelve rounds. In April 1992 he got another WBA shot, this time for the vacant title against Reggie Johnson in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was a close, hard fight, and Johnson won a majority decision.

Six months later Collins travelled to Verbania, Italy, to face Sumbu Kalambay for the European middleweight title and lost a split decision. All three of his professional defeats had come in championship fights, and none of them was a stoppage. After the Kalambay fight he moved his career to Belfast under manager Barney Eastwood and then on to England with Barry Hearn's Matchroom organisation. In 1993 he won the WBA Penta-Continental middleweight title by stopping Gerhard Botes at Earls Court.

The WBO Middleweight Title at Ponds Forge

On his fourth world title attempt, Collins finally won. On 11 May 1994 at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, he stopped Chris Pyatt at 2:27 of the fifth round to become WBO middleweight champion. He never defended that belt. Early in 1995 he gave it up and moved up to super-middleweight, where the WBO champion was Chris Eubank: unbeaten, theatrical and one of the biggest draws in British boxing.

Mind Games in Millstreet: The Hypnotist Story

The fight was set for St Patrick's weekend, 18 March 1995, at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet, County Cork. The arena had hosted the Eurovision Song Contest two years earlier. By then Collins was billing himself as "the Celtic Warrior," and he worked with Tony Quinn, a businessman and self-styled mind coach. According to the accounts gathered in the 2023 documentary One Night in Millstreet, Quinn had little boxing knowledge. Between them, he and Collins let the press believe that Collins would go into the fight under hypnosis. Boxing News reported the claims that went with it: Collins would see punches coming in slow motion and his targets would look larger than normal.

Eubank took it seriously. Boxing News reports that he threatened to pull out, and that he told Sky Sports on fight day, "That's why I'm afraid, that's why I wanted to call the fight off because I'm going into unknown territory." The Irish Examiner adds that Collins showed up to press events in Irish country clothing and spoke only Irish. Wikipedia's account says that during Eubank's ring walk Collins stayed in his corner without moving, listening to headphones. Critics also faulted the film for saying little about Quinn's wider and controversial past.

Eubank Beaten Twice in Cork

About 8,000 people were in the arena, according to Boxing News. Collins, trained for the fight by Freddie King, kept the pressure on and denied Eubank the pauses he liked to take. In the eighth round a right hand to the body put the champion down. Eubank came back late and knocked Collins down in the tenth, and for a moment it looked as if he might stop him. Collins got through it. The judges scored the fight 115-111, 116-114 and 114-113, a unanimous decision for Collins. Eubank's unbeaten record was gone, and Collins was a world champion at two weights. He later told Boxing News that he collapsed afterwards and needed oxygen.

The rematch took place on 9 September 1995 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, in Cork. This time Collins dropped his usual approach and brawled, and Eubank struggled with it. The official scores were tighter than the fight looked to many ringside observers: two judges had it 115-113 for Collins and the third scored 114-115 for Eubank, so Collins kept his title on a split decision.

Defences at the Point and Back in Millstreet

Collins went on to make five more defences of the WBO super-middleweight title. In November 1995 he beat Cornelius Carr on points at the Point Theatre in Dublin. In March 1996 he returned to Millstreet and stopped Neville Brown in the eleventh round. Promoters then put together a match British fans had wanted for years: the man who had beaten Eubank against Eubank's great rival, Nigel Benn.

Two Nights with Nigel Benn in Manchester

The first fight was on 6 July 1996 at the NYNEX Arena in Manchester, and it ended badly for Benn. He hurt his ankle, could not continue, and the fight was waved off in the fourth round, giving Collins a technical stoppage win. Because of the way it ended, a rematch was arranged for the same arena on 9 November 1996. This time Benn retired on his stool after six rounds, and he never boxed again. Collins told the Irish Post that the second Benn fight frightened him more than either Eubank fight or the first meeting with Benn.

Waiting for Roy Jones Jr.

In 1997 Collins stopped Frederic Seillier in London and Craig Cummings in Glasgow. By then, according to Wikipedia, the fight he really wanted was with Roy Jones Jr., and his motivation was fading. A defence against the young Welsh contender Joe Calzaghe was scheduled for October 1997, but Collins was injured ten days before it and withdrew. He made it clear that Calzaghe was not the opponent he was after, telling reporters that "Joe is a good up-and-coming kid, but he wouldn't fill a parish church." He then retired as champion with a record of 36 wins and 3 losses from 39 fights, including 21 wins inside the distance.

In 1999 he came out of retirement, still hoping to face Jones. Jones chose to fight Reggie Johnson instead, and then Collins collapsed during a sparring session. Wikipedia reports that medical checks found nothing wrong, but Collins took the episode as a warning and retired for good.

Life After the Ring

Collins stayed in boxing. The Irish Post notes that he has worked corners for fighters from the Celtic Warrior Gym, which is run by his brother Paschal. He has lived in London for many years. In 2014 he joined the British Army Reserve, and he later served with a Royal Military Police company in London, reaching the rank of lance corporal and qualifying as an army boxing coach. In 2023 the Millstreet story came back into public view when Andrew Gallimore's documentary premiered at the Cork International Film Festival. In 2025 Collins was inducted into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame.

Sources

• Steve Collins (boxer), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• One Night in Millstreet, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Chris Eubank and Steve Collins in the Battle of Millstreet, Boxing News, accessed October 2026
• Steve Collins describes why he was the first to defeat Chris Eubank, Boxing News, accessed October 2026
• On this day: Irishman Steve Collins sends Nigel Benn into retirement, The Irish Post, accessed October 2026
• One Night In Millstreet: Film goes behind the scenes on the famous Collins-Eubank fight, Irish Examiner (Esther McCarthy), 26 October 2023