Irish boxing legend Steve Collins says he’ll fight rival Roy Jones Jr. in the ring if his charge Frank Buglioni finishes off Fedor Chudinov early in their showdown at the SSE Arena, Wembley, on Saturday 26th September.
The former WBO World Middleweight and Super-Middleweight Champion is fired up after it was revealed that WBA World Super-Middleweight Champion Chudinov has brought in the services of the American great for his title defence against Buglioni.
Although Collins defeated British greats Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, twice each, he desperately chased a fight against Jones, who was then recognised as the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, but was always rebuffed.
The 51-year-old has offered to put the gloves on again for the first time in nearly 20 years if Buglioni stops undefeated Russian early and give the fans’ the fight that they missed in the 1990s.
“If Frank knocks Chudinov out in the first couple of rounds and the fans’ want more action then I’m happy to put on the gloves again and fight Jones if he’s up for it,” Said the Celtic Warrior.
“I chased and chased Jones throughout my career and he never wanted to fight me, but now we’re in the same ring in opposite corners, it’s the closet we’ve ever got in a ring, I’ll still have it with him if he fancies it. I’m still in great shape, I’ll fight him whatever weight he is. The fight is easier now than it was 10 or 15 years ago.”
“He’s a great guy, but the one thing people will remember him for is not fighting me when we were in our primes. Good luck to him with Chudinov, but there’s only one winner in this fight and that’s Frank.
Collins believes that it’s a desperate sign from the Chudinov camp that they have brought Jones in to train the WBA World Champion making his first title defence.
He added, “Chudinov must be worried if he feels he needs Jones to help him at this stage of his training programme,”
“Roy Jones was a very good fighter and has great knowledge, but we believe that they must be clutching at straws to bring him in only a few weeks’ out from the fight,”
“It put a smile on Frank’s face when he found out. For one, there’s the language barrier between them and Roy Jones’s fighting style is completely different to Chudinov’s,”
“My brother Paschal has been working with Frank for the last six weeks’ solid and he’s now in great shape. We’re not concerned about Jones training Chudinov. I said from day one with Frank that he’s a superb athlete and he’s certainly going to cause a huge shock on the night.”
Priced at £40, £50, £75, £100 and £150* tickets are available from www.frankwarren.com, SSE Arena, Wembley on 0844 815 0815 and www.axs.com and Eventim on 0844 249 1000 and www.eventim.co.uk
Buglioni v Chudinov headlines ’Man vs. Machine’ with London hotshot Frank Buglioni challenging WBA World Super-Middleweight Champion Fedor Chudinov for his crown.
An action packed card also features top undefeated WBO European Super-Middleweight Champion Jamie Cox making the first defence of his title; Cromer battler Ryan Walsh faces Hull’s Samir Mouneimne with the Vacant British Featherweight Title on the line; all-action Erith talent Lewis Pettitt challenges for the Vacant Commonwealth Super-Bantamweight Championship against Bobby Jenkinson; Penge hero Bradley Skeete defends his WBO European Welterweight crown against Heywood’s Mark Thompson; Ahmet Patterson and Danny Butler clash in an Eliminator for the British Light-Middleweight Championship; plus on the undercard Dublin lightweight Jamie Kavanagh; Canning Town lightweight Romeo Romaeo; Dagenham lightweight Ediz Hussein.
The Channel Of Champions, BoxNation, will televise, live and exclusive on Sky 437/HD 490, Virgin 546 and Talk Talk 415. Subscribe at www.boxnation.com or watch online at Livesport.tv or via iPhone, iPad or Android.
*Tickets are subject to be booking fee.
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