Nigel Benn will be at the ringside as an invited guest at The Point in Dublin today when Steve Collins defends his World Boxing Organisation championship against Cornelius Carr. That invitation should fuel speculation that Benn and Collins will meet next spring in a world super-middleweight bout where the WBO and World Boxing Council titles would be at stake.
Collins will therefore be careful not to underestimate Middlesbrough's Carr in the second defence of the championship he took from Chris Eubank in March - and retained in September. Collins earned pounds 1.2m for the second Eubank fight and should again be in that bracket for tackling the WBC champion Benn who, in turn, must get past a mandatory defence against Thulane Malinga, of South Africa, in late February.
"I'm not going to insult Cornelius Carr by talking about an upcoming fight with Nigel Benn. But yes, of course, I have my eye on one," Collins said.
The challenger has not mixed in the same kind of company as Collins, but has won 25 of his 26 bouts. "People say I haven't got the power to hurt him but they haven't seen me training with cruiserweights. I'm stronger than I've ever been," Carr said.
With Benn promising to be the next stop for Collins, Carr is unlikely to stall the Irishman, but could take him the distance.
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