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. arena. The fight was not officially signed as Warren was waiting for Eubank to sign the contract. Warren gave Eubank until 5pm on 25 September. On 3 October the fight was confirmed, but would take place on 29 November instead and would also be a WBO final eliminator. Eubank fought at the Echo Arena on 25 October in a scheduled 8 round fight. Eubank knocked out German boxer Omar Siala in round 2 after a right uppercut. Eubank lost his unbeaten record when he lost a split decision to Saunders. The bout went the distance, with the experienced Saunders controlling