GLASGOW, Scotland – On the week his father Steve Collins Snr was named on the ballot of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Steve Collins Jnr slumped to a shutout loss to Javier Santana.
The contest that took place at the Braehead Arena should have been a relatively straight forward one against Spain’s Santana, now 4-2 (1 KO) at light heavyweight. Collins came out for the first looking rigid with his hands high and speared a jab into the guard of Santana. The Spaniard was loose and flicked his left hand into the face of Collins. The Irishman was flat footed and tried to close down the space between him and Santana, but just couldn’t cut off the ring.
Collins' struggles continued in the second and although Collins landed shots, Santana always had a response. There seemed no panic from Collins as each of the rounds slipped away, he continued to offer little movement and Santana landed his lead hand at will. As the final round approached, again there seemed no urgency, even though it was unlikely that Collins had picked up a single round, and while he landed the odd power punch here and there, he was being outworked. The final bell sounded and a look of disappointment was written across Collins’ face. Kenny Cringle’s scorecard was fair, and read 60-55 in favour of Spain’s Santana. Collins falls to 15-6-1 (4 KOs) with the defeat.
Also on the card, Puerto Rican junior lightweight prodigy Yandiel Lozano-Oquendo picked up the second win of his professional career over the tough Mario Victorino Vera. Lozano-Oquendo, now 2-0, wasted little time and got to work on Vera, who immediately retreated to the corner. The Puerto Rican unloaded powerful hooks, with Vera taking most of the shots on the gloves, but certainly feeling the power. A sharp left hand burst through the Mexican’s guard and floored Vera, with Lozano-Oquendo landing another left while Vera slumped to his knees for good measure. Vera returned to his feet but a right hand rocked him again moments later and the Mexican was lucky to finish the round standing.
After an intense opener, the pace dropped in the second with Lozano-Oquendo electing to pick his shots rather than overwhelming his opponent. He stalked Vera and tapped away with his southpaw jab before unloading sharp left hands to the Mexican’s midsection. In the fourth, Lozano-Oquendo targeted the body again with his right hand, and midway through the session brought his right hand up to the head, hurting Vera at the close of the round. With Vera now taking the shots much better than in the opener, Lozano-Oquendo made an effort to throw everything he had left in the sixth and final round in a hope of getting his man out of there. Vera bit down and gritted his way through the final session. The scorecards read 60-54 in favour of the Puerto Rican. Vera falls to 8-9 (3 KOs) with the defeat.
Before then, Drew Limond, the son of late Scottish boxer Willie Limond, picked up a stoppage win over Mexican Alexeyv Mikhail Arellano Leon. Limond, now 5-0 (2 KOs), started fast and speared a sharp left jab into Leon’s face. The Mexican was not deterred and bust the nose of Limond in the second with a hard right hand. Limond started to land with intent and more often in the third and there was a feeling that Leon was starting to feel the shots.
Midway through the fourth session Limond landed another hard right but this time Leon sunk to the floor with the ropes supporting his legs as he struggled to return to his feet. The Mexican quickly regained his senses and was allowed to continue. Limond smelt blood and pushed forwards, landing a sharp left hand that again wobbled Leon. Limond continued to land at will and at 1.54 of Round 4 the referee had seen enough, and called a halt to proceedings. Leon fell to 4-14-1 (2 KOs) with the defeat.
