Benn fight against Collins ‘unlikely’

The British Boxing Board of Control has not received boxer licence applications for Steve Collins or Nigel Benn, and considers a fight between the two “unlikely”.

Collins, 52, and 53-yearold Benn - both former two weight world champions at middleweight and super-middleweight - have told BBC Sport they have agreed to what would be a third match-up, two decades after their respective retirements.

Robert Smith, the general secretary of the BB Bof C, insisted there was no maximum age limit for a fighter but told Press Association Sport: “You’re talking about two gentlemen who haven’t boxed for donkey’s years, but there’s nothing for us to consider at the moment.

“The only age limit we have is you’ve got to be over 18. However, the older you get, the more unlikely it is you’re going to be granted a licence. We haven’t had any applications from Nigel Benn or Steve Collins for a boxer’s licence.

“We’re aware they haven’t boxed for a considerable amount of time, and if we do receive such applications we will have to consider all these matters.

“I’ve not spoken to any promoters. Two weeks ago I had a phone call advising me this was being looked at, but I’ve not received anything from anyone wanting to put it on. I’d be very surprised if any promoter wanted it.

“Anybody can apply for a licence. We’d have to do our job properly and consider any application: whether it gets any further than that consideration I can’t tell you.”

There would be numerous hurdles to overcome, not least a consideration on Collins’ part that when he retired in 1997 he did so on medical grounds, and that a proposed fight against Roy Jones Jr in recent years came to nothing - much like talk of another encounter between Benn and Chris Eubank.

Benn, nicknamed ‘The Dark Destroyer’, retired following his second defeat by Collins in Manchester in 1996 but feels he is now in great shape and wants a crack at the Irishman.