Tommy Collins will be looking to pick up where he left off as his pro journey gathers pace with a seventh paid contest.
His story goes on at the Eastside Rooms, on Woodcock Street in Birmingham, as part of Friday’s fight night (September 30).
The popular 23-year-old, from Northfield, brings him his band of Brummie supporters and is buoyed by a maiden TKO, as a pro, from his previous outing.
‘Tommy Gun’ shot down Chris Adaway just one round into their six-round clash, a huge right hand settling matters, with just one minute and 47 seconds on the clock.
That took Collins to 6-0, with an early finish under his belt, with the full six rounds previously accumulated when he outpointed Des Newton, earlier in 2022.
The rest of his pro contests were a quartet of four-round points successes over Paul Ducie, MJ Hall, Clayton Bricknell and Vitalii Maksymiv, after making his debut in 2019.
Collins has a solid grounding from his amateur career, under Tom Chaney at Hall Green Boxing Club, racking up 66 victories racked up from 76 bouts.
He won 17 area titles in national competition and was a national finalist in the 2016 England Youth tournament, also representing his country at youth level.
He said: “I’ve stayed in the gym since my last one, so I’ve only needed a five-week training camp to get ready again and I’m feeling really good.
“Now it’s fight No 7, so all I want to do is to get to 7-0, put in a masterclass and give ‘Tommy Gun’s Barmy Army’ something to shout about again.
“My pro career has gone so fast and that’s even with the time off for the pandemic. If it hadn’t been for that, I’d have been 12-0 or 13-0 and been in for a title, by now.
“I’d jump at a title tomorrow, if it was down to me, but I leave those decisions to my team. We are looking around to see what opportunities are out there, though.
“This is going to be another six-rounder, I’ve done that distance before and I want to do it in style this time, then it’s about stepping up again.
“The sparring with Gavin (Gwynne) has been brilliant and I go up there every weekend that I can. It’s all learning, for me, and iron sharpens iron.
“I sparred with him in my last camp and then I went and stopped the lad in the first round. I felt so much sharper, on the night, and that made a difference.
“It was an explosive first round and it was good to demonstrate what I’m capable of doing. It was a bit of a statement, because I rate Chris (Adaway, opponent).
“I got my jab going quickly and then ‘wallop’ (overhand right) and he was out. I was worried, because it was a heavy knockdown but, thankfully, he was OK.
“It was great to get a stoppage, but I’ll still be looking to box. It’s about hitting and not getting hit. If the chance of a knockout is there, I’ll take it, but the win is most important.”
Tickets for the Eastside Rooms bill are available, priced at £40 standard or £75 VIP ringside with buffet and waitress service, directly from the boxers or by visiting myfighttickets.com.
