We’d nothing else sure- same with the euros, Charlie Nash,etc the country needed a pick me up
I remember Dana winning the Eurovision it was magic - things like this didn’t happen to forgotten insecure Ireland
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Those fights were on RTE weren’t they? The move to pay per view killed a lot of interest.
Bernard Dunne got a lot on interest at his peak too.
Nothing like McGuigan in fairness
All Collins big fights were on sky best I can recall
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Amateur boxing has.
Collins v Eubank I was a serious deal. Strictly standing room only down my local that night, you were lucky to even get a place to stand, and it’s a big place.
I’m sure they were on ITV
Don’t think they were - the Eubank - Watson (91) Benn fights from 1990 to 1995 or so were all free to air on ITV -
The Benn v Gerald Mcaclelland fight was ITV
Around then they went to Sky- Eubank deffo
Don’t think so. We had ITV and I remember listening to the Millstreet fight on the radio at home.
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Eubank’s fight v Ray Close in Belfast in May '94 was Eubank’s last on ITV.
Benn v McLellan in February '95 was the last big fight on ITV.
Pretty much everything after that was on Sky. Collins v Eubank I was three weeks after Benn v McLellan and I had to be snuck into the pub to see it. By the time of Collins v Eubank II we had Sky because my parents calculated that the cost and hassle of getting Sky was less than the cost and hassle of bringing meself and the brother down to the pub on a regular basis to see stuff on Sky and having to buy us Coca-Colas and Tayto.
Sky then started taking the piss when they put fights on pay per view. I think I “saw” Tyson v Holyfield II on some partially scrambled German satellite channel with German commentary. I ordered one pay per view fight ever, which was Prince Naseem v Wayne McCullough on Halloween night 1998.
I pretty much lost any sort of genuine interest in professional boxing after that.
Eubank made the Collins fights.
I remember being brought to a local pub to watch one of them.
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I have no problem with PPV per se . Let’s be honest boxing is a hard game and fighters deserve to be well paid
However the beneficiaries are usually the spivs & already elite fighters . That always the way since the game started though
Eubank was box office then . He was the prefect panto baddie .
That said Collins fought a man in decline . Eubank was never the same after the Watson fight
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If I’m not mistaken though a good proportion of people were hoping Collins lost. That was the first time I ever remember what since the internet has become common. Irish people hoping an Irish team or sportsperson lost.
100%
That was more to do with Eubanks popularity than Collins unpopularity, I’d say he had unanimous support against other fighters, the Irish lived Eubank, and hated Benn for most of that time.
I still argue that McGuigan left them all in the shade for national popularity.
McGuigan made a household name out of Pedroza, and many of his other opponents. The whole country would have been very familiar with Azoumah Nelson, even though they never fought.
Barry was MASSIVE
I was born in the early 80’s and had BMG posters on my wall before any hurling or football posters adorned it, that in hindsight says a lot
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I think you’re right about it being on sky, they would’ve encouraged the fantastic ring entrances ala Prince Naseem
Coughlan 83
Treacy 84
McGuigan 85-86
Roche 87
Euro 88
We were a proper country then
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You left out Dennis Taylor
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I kept it to sport.
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