British and Commonwealth featherweight champion, Nathaniel Collins, exploded onto television screens in August, stopping Raza Hamza in just 24 seconds.
In the aftermath of the fight it was said that the best kept secret in British boxing was finally out. The 27 year old Scot disagrees. He insists that people have barely seen a glimpse of what he is capable of.
“I think I’m still a mystery. Nobody got to see anything because I only threw two punches,” Collins (13-0, 7 KO’s) told Boxing Scene.
“I was actually a bit gutted. People were saying I must be buzzing and obviously it’s great to go out and do that on your debut and let people see that you’ve got a bit of power. I really wanted to show off what we’ve been working on and go through the gears.”
Collins won the British title in March and will make the latest defense of his titles against Manchester’s unbeaten Zak Miller on November 18th on Frank Warren’s Magnificent Seven card. He will be sharing the bill with his promotional stablemate and featherweight rival, Nick Ball, who takes on Isaac Dogboe in a final eliminator for Rey Vargas’ WBC featherweight title. Collins will be aiming to once again get his work done quickly so he can take his seat and get a close look at two potential opponents.
“I’m actually excited for him [Ball],” said Collins, who was recently elevated to number six in the latest WBC rankings. “The quicker he gets to world level, the quicker I get to world level because it’s an easy fight to make. It’s an easy defense for them to make, they’ll think the title stays in the stable if he does win it. We’re both ranked with the WBC so it’s easy to make. I’m looking forward to it and I hope he does go on to win a world title.”
Ball’s aggressive, all action style is attracting an ever-growing fan base. He has stormed through the WBC rankings in impressive fashion, recording a string of eye catching knockouts along the way. Dogboe, the former WBO super bantamweight champion, will provide him with a real test of his world level credentials. Collins is interested to see how the Liverpudlian’s style translates to the highest level.
“At that level there are quality operators and everybody carries a bit of power so you have to be able to do something else too,” he said. “His main thing has been being fit and strong and powerful. If you’re not wiping people out at that level you need something extra. It’ll be interesting to see because he can obviously punch a bit. I’ve not see him be too troubled by anybody unto now. He struggled a wee bit with [Ludumo] Lamati for the first five or six rounds with getting the distance right. You look at the guy at the top of the tree in the featherweight division, Rey Vargas, and he’s a bit taller than Lamati and he can punch and he isn’t gonna get hurt. What else have you got in the arsenal?”
By John Evans