Stevie Collins loving extra buzz ahead of Irish title clash

Tonight the RTÉ Six-One news will feature a report on Stevie Collins [10(4)-0-1] as the excitement surrounding his Irish title fight this Saturday continues to build.

‘The Wolfhound’ takes on Mullingar southpaw Paddy McDonagh [10(0)-2(0)] for the Irish light heavyweight belt on the Red Corner ‘For Honour and Pride’ card at the National Stadium.

The attention generated from an Irish title fight, which features alongside an Irish middleweight title clash between Luke Keeler and Darren Cruise, has seen the profile of the fight night, Red Corner’s third, grow massively.

27 year old Collins can feel the importance of the fight himself and said that “there is definitely something more about it. You can sense it with everyone you talk to.”

“You get a little bit extra buzz around the gym. You get people coming up to you asking questions they don’t usually ask and showing more of an interest.”

“There is reason for that and it is the domestic element. It does drag attention”

While McDonagh was the last man to hold the belt, Castleknock’s Collins is feeling like the home fighter, and he stated that “I am the local boy here, everyone will want the Dublin lad to win, while all of Mullingar will be up for him.”

It’s a second successive big fight for the Celtic Warriors man who had taken a step up to outpoint Pablo Sosa on the previous Red Corner show in February.

Collins, who only picked up the gloves for the first time in his twenties, doesn’t intend on Saturday being the pinnacle of his career. The Dubliner outlined how “the fights just keep getting bigger and better and hopefully it continues that way.”

The card this weekend also features appearances from Chris Blaney, Victor Rabeii, Allan Phelan, Thomas Finnegan, and Craig O’Brien.

Tickets for the June 24th show cost €40 (general) and €60 (ringside) and are available from the boxers involved.

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)