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Rivals Roid Jones, Jr ducked: Steve Collins (and more)
For over 20 years, former undefeated WBO middleweight & super-middleweight titlist and self-proclaimed greatest Irish fighter ever, Steve 'The Celtic Warrior' Collins has been rightly taunting and ridiculing his old rival Roid Jones, Jr as a "coward" due to Roid's continuous refusal to box him. As part of the official RoidWatch project, Team Elite™ continues the Flashback series to expose the truth and educate the lesser learned about Roid Jones, Jr once and for all. So let's recap what is essentially a clear-cut, uneventful, repeated duck. One of Jones' most blatant ducks infact.
In addition to which, the extent that Roid was protected and hid behind his ludicrous promotional contracts with HBO and the "mandatory defences" of his bogus paper ABC titles will be covered.
We'll also take the opportunity to further humiliate & ridicule Roid Jones' absolute worst, dumbest, most deluded & obsessed mentally ill fanboy loser; the tragic obese basement-dwelling f@g known as Loudunce/Fat Robert/robertzimmerman and the cringeworthy lies he will resort to inventing in his pathetic endless, hopeless attempts to defend his glass jawed hero.
Collision course?
Collins & Jones were briefly rival middleweight title holders after Collins stopped the capable yet undersized WBO middleweight titlist Chris Pyatt in May '94 (Jones won his vacant IBF title one year earlier). Collins ultimately never defended his middleweight title, with his first defense against fringe contender Lonnie Beasley on the ill-fated 'High Noon in Hong Kong' card in Oct '94 being canceled literally one minute before the fighters were to weigh in.
Jones - after avoiding his old amateur nemesis & other rival 160lb title holder Gerald 'The G Man' McClellan to the point where Roid wouldn't even mention his name - signed to box James 'Gift Decision' Toney @168lbs for the IBF title in Nov '94 and remained at the weight after an easy shutout victory over the forever-since "weight drained" Toney who'd claimed he was in "great shape" before the bout.
...After Ray Close failed a brain scan ahead of his third challenge to Chris Eubank's WBO super-middleweight title, Collins stepped in to famously end Eubank's "undefeated" streak in Ireland in Mar '95, after which Collins first called out Jones & Benn.
However, post Toney-Jones, Roid would defend his 168lb title against a string of B & C class challengers despite the best opposition all wanting unification matches with him. After beating up roided-up lightweight midget Vinny Pazienza in a clash of 90s juicers, Roid didn't seem keen on any real challenges;
Still, throughout '95 the headlines were dominated by a high-profile potential Jones-Benn unification bout. In Sep '95 Collins again defeated Eubank - this time more decisively - and after a faded Benn lost his title in Mar '96 the talk naturally turned to Jones vs Collins and the path was clear for their big money unification bout.
Of course, after what Benn did to McClellan in Feb '95, Jones would've never gotten in the ring with Benn despite Benn effectively being shot post-McClellan. HBO's President of Sports Seth Abraham would later confirm this particular duck; "He's very direct about that", Abraham says of Jones' nightmares of ending up in a wheelchair, like McClellan. "I've heard him say, 'No Nigel Benn is going to do that to me.' " (The Jones camp have at least five conflicting explanations [i.e. lies] for the Benn duck which we won't bother covering here.)
It would transpire that this was just the beginning; in a Jun '96 post-fight interview, Larry Merchant would strangely ask Roid about negotiating a fight vs Tommy Hearns;
???
You know people are talking crap when George Foreman is the logical one.
Despite the embarrassing impromptu retirement ceremony after Benn lost his title to Sugarboy Malinga - a boxer who always lost at world level - Benn couldn't resist coming back for a shot at Collins in July which earned Benn £800k and a sprained ankle, with Collins taking the majority cut of the £2m purse.
Road Warrior
Leaving his native Dublin in the mid 80s after amassing countless Irish amateur titles, Collins began his pro career in Boston under the Petronelli brothers, for a while sharing a gym with world middleweight king 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler. Having retained priceless knowledge from a variety of world class trainers, the seasoned 32-year old Collins had aged like fine wine since the green fresh-faced 16-0 USBA champion who gave Mike 'The Body Snatcher' McCallum a good fight for the WBA middleweight title in 1990, gaining experience vs respected opposition boxing in New Jersey, Atlantic City, France, Italy, & all over the British Isles.
After McCallum was stripped for facing Lineal/IBF champion Toney, Collins would drop a close disputed MD vs a prime 'Sweet' Reggie Johnson for the vacant title in Apr '92, with Collins making the classic mistake of finishing the fight with plenty left in the tank whilst his opponent's was close to empty. This was followed by a frustrating UD loss to the aging elite Sumbu Kalambay in a high-risk bout for the European title in Italy. Relocating to the UK, Collins finally won a world title in his third attempt when he comfortably stopped Pyatt (who defeated Kalambay for the vacant title) in five rounds in Sheffield.
Despite since downplaying his own ability, the fearless iron-chinned workmanlike Collins - a master of psychology - had under-appreciated skills, could counter-punch or brawl effectively, was excessively strong, and could easily maintain a high workrate for 12 rounds. Extremely determined & tenacious, he also possessed complete confidence and an unbreakable will which no one had coming close to denting.
And of course Collins was all natural.
As always, Roid's advantages were his incredible steroid-boosted combination of speed of hand & foot, reflexes, and power (his weak chin and PED use, though obvious, had yet been exposed). However, having secured his spot on HBO's roster which allowed him to pick & choose his opposition, Roid was already comfortably settled into his "Pay me for fighting who you really want me to fight while in the meantime I'll collect these already-premium-rate cheques for trouncing second raters despite not being able to draw flies." routine.
Still, Collins had earned his stripes, was backed by a big UK-based promoter, and had long built a big following both in Ireland and amongst the plastic-paddies stateside to make Jones vs Collins more than a worthwhile proposition.
However, once a ducker...
For over 20 years, former undefeated WBO middleweight & super-middleweight titlist and self-proclaimed greatest Irish fighter ever, Steve 'The Celtic Warrior' Collins has been rightly taunting and ridiculing his old rival Roid Jones, Jr as a "coward" due to Roid's continuous refusal to box him. As part of the official RoidWatch project, Team Elite™ continues the Flashback series to expose the truth and educate the lesser learned about Roid Jones, Jr once and for all. So let's recap what is essentially a clear-cut, uneventful, repeated duck. One of Jones' most blatant ducks infact.
In addition to which, the extent that Roid was protected and hid behind his ludicrous promotional contracts with HBO and the "mandatory defences" of his bogus paper ABC titles will be covered.
We'll also take the opportunity to further humiliate & ridicule Roid Jones' absolute worst, dumbest, most deluded & obsessed mentally ill fanboy loser; the tragic obese basement-dwelling f@g known as Loudunce/Fat Robert/robertzimmerman and the cringeworthy lies he will resort to inventing in his pathetic endless, hopeless attempts to defend his glass jawed hero.
Collision course?
Collins & Jones were briefly rival middleweight title holders after Collins stopped the capable yet undersized WBO middleweight titlist Chris Pyatt in May '94 (Jones won his vacant IBF title one year earlier). Collins ultimately never defended his middleweight title, with his first defense against fringe contender Lonnie Beasley on the ill-fated 'High Noon in Hong Kong' card in Oct '94 being canceled literally one minute before the fighters were to weigh in.
Jones - after avoiding his old amateur nemesis & other rival 160lb title holder Gerald 'The G Man' McClellan to the point where Roid wouldn't even mention his name - signed to box James 'Gift Decision' Toney @168lbs for the IBF title in Nov '94 and remained at the weight after an easy shutout victory over the forever-since "weight drained" Toney who'd claimed he was in "great shape" before the bout.
...After Ray Close failed a brain scan ahead of his third challenge to Chris Eubank's WBO super-middleweight title, Collins stepped in to famously end Eubank's "undefeated" streak in Ireland in Mar '95, after which Collins first called out Jones & Benn.
However, post Toney-Jones, Roid would defend his 168lb title against a string of B & C class challengers despite the best opposition all wanting unification matches with him. After beating up roided-up lightweight midget Vinny Pazienza in a clash of 90s juicers, Roid didn't seem keen on any real challenges;
Still, throughout '95 the headlines were dominated by a high-profile potential Jones-Benn unification bout. In Sep '95 Collins again defeated Eubank - this time more decisively - and after a faded Benn lost his title in Mar '96 the talk naturally turned to Jones vs Collins and the path was clear for their big money unification bout.
Of course, after what Benn did to McClellan in Feb '95, Jones would've never gotten in the ring with Benn despite Benn effectively being shot post-McClellan. HBO's President of Sports Seth Abraham would later confirm this particular duck; "He's very direct about that", Abraham says of Jones' nightmares of ending up in a wheelchair, like McClellan. "I've heard him say, 'No Nigel Benn is going to do that to me.' " (The Jones camp have at least five conflicting explanations [i.e. lies] for the Benn duck which we won't bother covering here.)
It would transpire that this was just the beginning; in a Jun '96 post-fight interview, Larry Merchant would strangely ask Roid about negotiating a fight vs Tommy Hearns;
???
You know people are talking crap when George Foreman is the logical one.
Despite the embarrassing impromptu retirement ceremony after Benn lost his title to Sugarboy Malinga - a boxer who always lost at world level - Benn couldn't resist coming back for a shot at Collins in July which earned Benn £800k and a sprained ankle, with Collins taking the majority cut of the £2m purse.
Road Warrior
Leaving his native Dublin in the mid 80s after amassing countless Irish amateur titles, Collins began his pro career in Boston under the Petronelli brothers, for a while sharing a gym with world middleweight king 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler. Having retained priceless knowledge from a variety of world class trainers, the seasoned 32-year old Collins had aged like fine wine since the green fresh-faced 16-0 USBA champion who gave Mike 'The Body Snatcher' McCallum a good fight for the WBA middleweight title in 1990, gaining experience vs respected opposition boxing in New Jersey, Atlantic City, France, Italy, & all over the British Isles.
After McCallum was stripped for facing Lineal/IBF champion Toney, Collins would drop a close disputed MD vs a prime 'Sweet' Reggie Johnson for the vacant title in Apr '92, with Collins making the classic mistake of finishing the fight with plenty left in the tank whilst his opponent's was close to empty. This was followed by a frustrating UD loss to the aging elite Sumbu Kalambay in a high-risk bout for the European title in Italy. Relocating to the UK, Collins finally won a world title in his third attempt when he comfortably stopped Pyatt (who defeated Kalambay for the vacant title) in five rounds in Sheffield.
Despite since downplaying his own ability, the fearless iron-chinned workmanlike Collins - a master of psychology - had under-appreciated skills, could counter-punch or brawl effectively, was excessively strong, and could easily maintain a high workrate for 12 rounds. Extremely determined & tenacious, he also possessed complete confidence and an unbreakable will which no one had coming close to denting.
And of course Collins was all natural.
As always, Roid's advantages were his incredible steroid-boosted combination of speed of hand & foot, reflexes, and power (his weak chin and PED use, though obvious, had yet been exposed). However, having secured his spot on HBO's roster which allowed him to pick & choose his opposition, Roid was already comfortably settled into his "Pay me for fighting who you really want me to fight while in the meantime I'll collect these already-premium-rate cheques for trouncing second raters despite not being able to draw flies." routine.
Still, Collins had earned his stripes, was backed by a big UK-based promoter, and had long built a big following both in Ireland and amongst the plastic-paddies stateside to make Jones vs Collins more than a worthwhile proposition.
However, once a ducker...
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