Black Country Boxing showcased one of their newest prospects on their final show of the year ‘Fight Before Christmas’ at the Eastside Rooms Birmingham (20.12.23). Nineteen-year-old Ben Collins from Stourbridge made his debut on the show when he took on Genadij Krajevskij in a very one-sided four-round contest with Collins Showcasing his talents winning every round.
The Column was very impressed with the light Heavyweight's performance we contacted him to get a better insight into the young man known as ‘Pumpkin’.
Collins is an Orthodox fighter and stands six Foot Four and had twenty-nine Amateur contests winning sixteen and claiming a Harringay Amateur Box Cup five Amateur Midlands titles and was a three-time National finalist. Ben is now trained by Black Country Boxing coach Paul Mann and coached and managed by Errol Johnson.
My first question to Collins was, who is your favourite boxer and why? Collins told me “ My favourite boxer is Callum Smith, I’ve looked up to him from a very young age”.
I then asked him what was the best fight he had seen. The Light Heavyweight informed me “David Haye vs Derek Chisora was the first big boxing show I had been to, my dad brought me tickets for my 8th birthday all the hype behind the fight at Upton Park will always be one of the best memories of a boxing fight I’d been to see live”.
We then talked about when he found the noble art of boxing, he said: “I’ve been boxing for 11 years, I was 7 years old when I started, at the time playing football, and I went to a boxing gym to try it and fell in love with the sport”.
I then asked him what had. been his hardest fight to date? He told me “It has to be my Harringay Box Cup semi-final, I fought a kid called Joe Lister, a friend of mine who I’d known a few years through the England programme as amateurs and we both had a lot of respect for each other inside and outside the ring. We had 3 very tough rounds at Harringay, both landing some big shots and will be a fight I’ll always remember.
Ben finished by I forming me “I run an amateur boxing club with my dad Team Pumpkin Boxing. We do a lot of work within the community, as well as taking our fighters out sparring and fighting most weekends”.
Dexter’s Thoughts
I had the privilege of being at Ben’s debut at the Eastside Rooms Birmingham and have to say I was very impressed. The young fighter looked like he was a twenty pro fight veteran as he showcased some great boxing skills. Collins is only nineteen and with this performance is looking like a great addition to the Light Heavyweight division which is one of the hottest divisions at the moment domestically and at the world level. Collins has a long way to go before he is in the same conversation as the Midlands Light Heavyweights like Shakan Pitters and Ricky Summers but from what I saw on his debut it won’t be that long until he is. Collins in my opinion has all the attributes and potential to get to the British level and beyond and the Birmingham Boxing Column look forward to reporting on his journey.