| Billy Collins | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | William Ray Collins, Jr. |
| Rated at | Welterweight |
| Nationality | Irish American |
| Born | 21 September 1961 Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Died | 6 March 1984 (aged 22) Antioch, Tennessee, USA |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 15 |
| Wins | 14 |
| Wins by KO | 11 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 1 |
William Ray Collins, Jr. (September 21, 1961 – March 6, 1984) was an Irish-American professional boxer whose career was ended after he sustained serious injuries against an opponent with illegal under-padded gloves.
Contents |
Billy Collins was born to an Irish-American working class family in Antioch, Tennessee. His father had been a welterweight who had once fought champion Curtis Cokes. He trained his son to follow in his footsteps. Collins won his first 14 fights as a professional welterweight, among them a decision win over future world title challenger Harold Brazier. Collins was matched against Puerto Rican journeyman Luis Resto at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 16, 1983, on the undercard of the Roberto Durán vs Davey Moore light-middleweight title fight. Collins entered the fight as a substantial favorite but took a severe beating and lost by a unanimous decision.
At the end of the fight Collins' father and trainer, Billy, Sr., noticed that Resto's gloves felt thinner than normal and demanded that they be impounded.[1]
A subsequent investigation by the New York State Boxing Commission concluded that Resto's trainer, Panama Lewis, had removed an ounce of padding from each glove. It made Resto's punches harder and more damaging to Collins. The commission ruled the fight a no-contest.
Lewis was effectively banned from any official role in American boxing for life, while Resto was suspended indefinitely and never fought again. In 1986, Lewis and Resto were tried and convicted of assault, conspiracy, and criminal possession of a deadly weapon (Resto's fists); prosecutors felt that Lewis' actions made the fight an illegal assault on Collins. Both men served 2½ years in prison.[2]
In the Resto fight, Collins' eyes were swollen shut, especially shocking since Resto was known to be a light puncher. He suffered a torn iris and permanently blurred vision, which prevented him from boxing again. After losing two jobs in a short time after the fight, he began drinking heavily. His violent mood swings threatened his marriage.
On March 6, 1984, he crashed his car into a culvert near his home in Antioch, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. He was killed on impact. Many commentators, as well as Collins' family, believe that the loss of his livelihood broke him psychologically and that his death was a suicide.[1]
In July 1983, Collins and his family sued Lewis, Resto, fight promoter Top Rank Boxing, the inspectors, the bout's referee and Everlast (the manufacturer of Resto's gloves) for gross negligence and loss of income. However, the suit was derailed by Collins' death. Collins, Sr. and Collins' widow Andrea then sued the New York State Boxing Commission for failing to protect Collins. The commission argued that the term "inspection" was so broad that there was no way to determine whether the fight's inspectors could have done more than they did. It also claimed that Top Rank actually hired the inspectors and bore more responsibility for their behavior. A court ruled in favor of the commission, and the court also noted that Collins' death ended any potential future damages.[1] However, Collins' widow, now known as Andrea Collins-Nile, attempted to reopen the suit. The request was denied. The state subsequently changed its rules to prevent a repeat of what happened to Collins.
In 2007, Resto made a tearful apology to Collins-Nile for his role in the scheme. He also admitted that his hand wraps had been soaked in plaster of Paris before the fight. This caused them to harden into plaster casts like those used to set broken bones. The hand wraps were never confiscated and did not figure into the official investigation of the tampering incident. However, the combined effect of the plaster casts and unpadded gloves meant that Resto was effectively striking Collins with rocks.[3] At a 2008 press conference, Resto not only admitted to knowing that Lewis had tampered with the gloves, but had done so at least twice before.[4] The 1983 incident and subsequent aftermath is covered in the HBO-aired documentary Assault in the Ring.[5]