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Stevie Collins – “That shows you what I’m capable of”

Stevie Collins [10(4)-0-1] made a huge statement on Saturday night.

The Wolfhound, a relative novice in boxing terms, comprehensively defeated Argentine dangerman Pablo Sosa on the Red Corner Promotions ‘Unfinished Business’ card at the National Stadium.

The Spanish-based South American had been predicted to give Collins a huge test, however the Dubliner dominated from start to finish, outpointing the very game Sosa over eight rounds (79:73).

A mature display, and one in which he showed more technical skill than ever before, it was definitely the performance of the night.

It was uncharted territory in many ways for Collins, and he told Irish-Boxing.com afterwards “it was my first eight rounder, first time fighting on a big show in Dublin, first time being a big part of the event, fighting in front of all my family and friends, first time fighting in front of my family, first time fighting in the Stadium – a lot of it was new to me.”

Looking back on the fight, Collins described how “I’m happy with my performance. To be critical of myself, I probably looked for the knockout too much early on and I probably blew a bit. But other than that, I was busy for eight rounds, he didn’t hurt me at all, he was winging big right hands and caught me but I was riding the shots, he put me on the ropes a few times and looked like he was busy, but I was catching everything.”

“Defensively I’m happy, and all round I’d give it a B-minus”

It was a real, and very dangerous, step up for Collins who noted how Sosa “was tough, I couldn’t believe how tough he was. When I hurt him early I thought ‘right, I’m going to get this lad out of here in three rounds,’ but it seemed like every time I hurt him he got stronger. It was a big learning fight.

“He had drew with and beaten lads who were a lot better ranked than me.”

The sort of performance that made people sit up and take notice, Collins really did mark himself out as one to watch and as a potential headliner of future Dublin shows. He outlined that “for someone who started boxing three years ago, and spent two of those on the physio table, I’m happy enough with where I’m at.”

“That shows you what I’m capable of.”

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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