William Ray Collins Jr. (September 21, 1961 - March 6, 1984) was an undefeated American professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1983. Two years have passed since then and Collins Jr. has been climbing the 154-pound rankings. Collins suffered a torn iris and permanently blurred vision, ending his boxing career. He was set to take the limelight away from the likes of Manny Pacquiao with his exciting style. Ali told Liston to "get up sucka! His father (whose mother was native American) was a former welterweight professional boxer who had once fought world champion Curtis Cokes. It is surely questionable that Resto would try to commit any kind of infringement of boxing rules. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Whether he gets a licence before his time is up is unclear. The Puerto Rican shudderingly pulled his hand away and protested his innocence. This scheme would go on for over 13 years before an investigation was made, and IBF President Robert Lee was arrested, along with three other officials who were charged with taking bribes. Horses in yellow and blue feathers pulled a white funeral carriage holding a 22-carat gold coffin that Willy Collins was laid to rest in in 2020 +32 View gallery The bare knuckle boxer's body. (Morrison) Collins in 2010. However, the harshness of its conditions can turn dreams into tragedies, as in the case of Billy Collins Jr. the Irishman. Soon, word that at least eleven fighters participating in the tournament had falsified records got out, and ABC became worried. The request was denied. Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. [4], On March 6, 1984, Collins was killed when the car in which he and his best friend were driving crashed into a culvert near his home in Antioch, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. This bout and its aftermath are the subject of the 2009 HBO documentary " Assault in the Ring ." The night of June 16, 1983, Billy Ray Collins and Luis Resto met in the ring of Madison Square Garden as the co-feature to Roberto Duran-Davey Moore. One, put there by his widow, Andrea Collins Morse, reads A GREAT FIGHTER. The tournament would be filled with bums and journeymen that needed validation. Michael Collins, the NASA astronaut who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, has died at age 90 after battling cancer. With the doctored gloves he had stayed as close to Collins as he could, round after round, and had tried to hit him as hard and as often as he could. "I am sorry to make a very . Billy Bello, a 19-year-old welterweight from the Bronx, died from an apparent overdose of narcotics yesterday, two weeks after he made his national television debut at Madison Square Garden.. It's asking people to spot the giraffe hidden among the toy animals, 'My naked body is soft and saggy but it deserves to be seen on social media too', Fitness star Sophie Lait has hit out at Instagram for removing her 'soft and saggy' naked picture from its site. Your IP: He retired from Yellow Freight; was a World Champion Professional Boxer and was loved by all who knew him. As I talk to you now I really dont have an answer for that and Im really going to sit with myself and think about it.. On the other hand, there is the counter-argument that what Resto did was beyond the pale. The NYSAC banned Lewis from any role in boxing for life. William Collins died nine months after the fight in a tragic car accident, whereas Luis Resto remained a cheater for the boxing fans all his life. There are two tombstones atop Billy Ray Collins Jr.'s grave site at the Woodlawn Funeral Home in Nashville. During the three years he wasn't allowed to box, Ali had to go on speaking engagements at various colleges to make enough money to put food on the table and pay his bills. The days his head is often bowed, he has difficulty making eye contact and his only companion is the rubber ball that never leaves his hand. He was predeceased by his wife and love of his life, Janet B. Monzon was allowed to visit his family in 1995 for a weekend, only to crash his car and die on the way back. Collins suffered a torn iris and his vision was forever blurred. Susan Sacks, who came across the story in the sports supplement of a newspaper, went down to meet the Collins family and wrote a screenplay about it in 1990. Billy was a World Champion Professional Boxer and was retired from Yellow Freight. His previous violent relationships (that, at least once, resulted in his being shot in the leg by an ex-wife) became the stuff that the paparazzi ate up. She says, I got so involved with the story, I felt like it was my reason for being. [2] However, Collins' widow, now known as Andrea Collins-Nile, attempted to reopen the suit. It did, and Holyfield won by TKO in Round 11, scoring an impressive upset. Dame Joan Collins looked sensational as she attended Armani and A Rabbit's Foot's Power of Film dinner at swanky The Dragon Room at Isabel Mayfair in London on Tuesday. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN. Follow WBN: Facebook, Insta, Twitter. Luis Resto (20-8-2, 8 KO) was a light-punching journeyman. An unforgettable night for boxing, both for better and for worse: Mano de Piedra would conquer a world championship in a third division, on the one hand; and, on the other hand, would begin the beginning of the end of the promising career of Billy Collins Jr. He was highly acclaimed, earning money and fame in his profession of pugilism, until he was called to join the Vietnam draft. He was very well-known and was a bare knuckle boxer but was more of a peacemaker. Many commentators, as well as Collins' family, believe that the loss of his livelihood broke him emotionally and physically.[2]. As a vicious sport that's known for its highway robberies, underhanded dealings and potentially fatal methods of cheating fighters, boxing is a hard business. Tyson complained that the referee did noting about Holyfield's headbutts during their first match. Liston went down, and the world went outrageous. But he insists the best of him is still to come, writes Declan Taylor. I will miss him so much and my heart is broken., This story originally appeared in thesun.co.uk and has been republished with permission. Both served 2.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}12 years in prison. Each time Gordon turned him down. The pop-culture aftermath has harmed boxing far worse, turning the increasingly less respectable sport into a circus sideshow worthy of the trash-TV era of the mid-to-late '90s. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. In the early hours of March 7, 1984, Billy Collins drove his '72 Oldsmobile Cutlass off a road and into a creek near his Antioch home in Tennessee. According to reports, Resto admitted to using plaster under the gloves, which caused damage to Williams face. For Billy Collins Jr. the consequences were worse. Meanwhile, down in Antioch, Tennessee, the Collins family still bristle with grief and anger. I tried but its always on my mind, he said. The IBF fed Foreman Alex Schulz, who was defeated by majority decision. The shocking incidents occurred in ten months between . For his part, Carlos Lewis never recovered his license, but, somehow, he remained linked to boxing and worked for Mike Tyson, Francois Botha and Zab Judah among others. Yet, finally, it was about to happen. However, the harshness of its conditions can turn dreams into tragedies, as in the case of Billy Collins Jr. the Irishman. However, Billy took a sustained beating for the complete ten rounds. Billy Collins Birthday and Date of Death Billy Collins was born on September 21, 1961 and died on March 6, 1984. Suspicion led Collins' father, a former pro boxer, to grab Resto's gloves before they. Collins' eyes are swollen shut; Resto has tampered with his gloves. He was trained by his father, also named Billy. Sports journalist: soccer, boxing, swimming and then whatever you want. televised nationally on ABC, and was fought in the famous Madison Square Garden, Paret becoming unconscious during the end of the exchange, he picked her up by the neck and threw her off the second-floor balcony. Resto served 2 1/2 years in prison for assault, while boxing suffered a tragedy that shows just how dangerous cheating can be in this sport. In the most horrific ending imaginable to the whole sickening event, Billy was involved in a car accident near his home on March 6, 1984, which proved fatal. "Character . Gravestone fit for a traveller KING: Huge '200,000' memorial for bare-knuckle boxer father-of-nine 'Big Willy Collins' who died aged 49 is made from solid white marble, weighs 37 tonnes and . Tyson was disqualified, and the audience was pissed. Collins is not. Amazingly, Billys opponent also stated the procedure had been performed on him at least twice in previous fights. There had been no hint of mercy from Resto, no relenting. In boxing, there are four major world championship governing bodies: the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF. Im sorry I kept my mouth shut., I went to see Collins ex-wife. He died in 2020 protesting his innocence after returning to the aid of boxers later in his career. Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. The face of boxer Billy Collins Jr. after his career was cut short by injuries from his opponents tampered gloves. Shane Mosley testified in front of a federal jury that, in 2003, he used EPO in his second fight with Oscar de la Hoya. More than three years after the fight, lawmakers found Resto and his trainer guilty of criminal activity in-ring. The IBF (International Boxing Federation) is one of the younger governing bodies, beginning operations in 1984. Tim Tszyu has promised to drown his American rival in their world title bout, but Tony Harrison is just as confident. who is currently pursuing his masters degree in broadcast journalism. However, his eyes showed how hard he had been punished. The consequences of not knowing how to manage his failure led him to fall into the clutches of alcohol and on March 7, 1984, 9 months after being destroyed by Luis Resto in the ring, he would crash drunk while driving his car at excessive speed and tragically lose his life. Resto became the first man to batter Collins in a pro-boxing bout, which later turned out into a NO-Contest when administrators came across the news of Restos unpadded gloves. Court cases, vain attempts on the part of those nursing their loss at some kind of compensation, have cropped up periodically, had some publicity in the press, dragged on and then been dismissed. 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