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
Joe Calzaghe his title, and then retired. After Collins retired, a fight against British boxing legend Chris Eubank was quickly set up for the vacant WBO title on 11 October 1997, in Sheffield. Calzaghe emerged victorious over the two-time WBO champion, knocking the granite chinned Eubank down in the opening seconds and claiming a unanimous points win. The judges scored the contest 118–110, 118–109, and 116–111 in favour of Calzaghe. Eubank said of Calzaghe in a 2006 interview that: "Joe is the proper article, a true warrior." Calzaghe conceded that Eubank, even in his comeback, gave him the toughest fight of his