Despite the fact that both 1990s stars, Nigel Benn and Steve Collins, are now well into their fifties, talk of a third fight between the two refuses to go away. In fact it’s a case of quite the opposite, as “Celtic Warrior” Collins, who twice stopped Benn in the final days of “The Dark Destroyer’s” career, has just been granted a license to box.
As per a report via Irish Boxing, 53 year old Collins applied for and was granted a licence to box this week, and he now says the third fight between he and Benn “can happen.”
Benn, the same age as Collins, told Talk Sport how he wants “closure” and that a third fight with the teak-tough Irishman who twice defeated him way back in 1996 would give him what he wants.
“It’s on the cards,” Benn said. “I am not mucking around with him anymore. It is £5 million on the table, each, and this guy ain’t got a pot to urinate in but he thinks he is calling the shots. To me, it’s not about money, it’s about closure. I never had closure. Steve has got his license and I’ve been training for two years. I am fitter now than when I was world champion.”
Though neither Collins-Benn fight was a great fight (although the two, between them, did give us some classics; Benn especially) – there seems to be genuine interest in a third fight. Collins, 36-3(21) last fought in July of 1997, when he defeated Craig Cummings to retain the WBO super-middleweight title he won in 1995 in an upset against Chris Eubank. While Benn, 42-5-1(35) last boxed in November of 1996 when he lost the second fight to Collins.
Both men have kept themselves in good shape, and in truth plenty of people would watch a third fight between the two if it did indeed happen, but what platform would such a fight take place on? And just where is the £10 million Benn speaks of and where is it coming from?
Stranger fights have happened over the years but this one would really raise eyebrows here in the UK.