Steve Collins Matchroom Boxing. Alongside him was Paul "Silky" Jones, his sparring partner and good friend who later went on to become WBO light-middleweight title holder. Collins was trained by Freddie King in the Romford training camp. In 1994, he won a world title by defeating Chris Pyatt by stoppage in five rounds to become the WBO middleweight champion. The following year he relinquished this title without a defence and was having difficulty making the weight. Again as a substitute he moved up to super-middleweight to challenge Chris Eubank for the WBO title after Eubank's scheduled opponent Ray Close withdrew after failing
Chris Eubank Jr. a month, but we can’t push it back by three or four months. We have a substitute system. We said that from day one, and that’s the situation. We want Groves in the final, but if that’s not possible and he doesn't declare himself fit in the next 10 days, we have to find a solution." On 17 September, Sauerland announced that Eubank would fight Irish boxer JJ McDonagh (16-4, 8 KOs) George Groves vs Callum Smith undercard on 28 September at The Indoor Sports Hall at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Eubank won the fight via