Neither of the former world champions have fought this century but at a combined age of 105 they’re returning to the ring.
Both men, now in their 50’s, announced today they will square up for the third time at the back-end of 2017. Irishman Collins won the first two fights against his old nemesis and has been installed as the favourite for the third clash.
In their first fight back in 1996, Collins was the victor with a fourth round stoppage. However, a rematch was quickly called due to an ankle injury scuppering Benn’s chances. The Celtic Warrior repeated the trick just five months later, forcing Benn to retire at the end of the 6th round following a relentless assault.
Even though, neither currently hold or have applied for a boxing licence, odds have been provided for the fight by a major operator Paddy Power who have installed Collins as favourite for the fight at 8/11 with Benn the outsider at 11/10.
It’s been well publicised that Benn has been trying to set-up a fight with another of his former foes Chris Eubank Snr, but has grown frustrated with the prolonged negotiations. The Londoner turned to Collins, who apparently agreed straight away, setting up the final chapter to this ongoing saga. In fact, the Irishman was very honest when stating his reason for the fight “It’s just about money”.
If the Nigel Benn & Steve Collins rematch is going to be as funny as this I'll definitely be watching pic.twitter.com/A3k29PXTrh
— Rick Lees (@ricklees) June 29, 2017
Even though Steve Collins has a marvellous pedigree and has beaten Benn twice in the nineties, we believe Nigel will be more popular with the punters as he’s a household name following his famous fights with Chris Eubank. Nigel Benn also looks in pretty good condition and has remained fit during on-going conversations with Eubank.
