LA sparring readies Collins for Llorente re-match
Scottish boxer Nathaniel Collins has put his body "through hell and back" in his bid to take a "massive" step towards achieving his world title dream.
Nathaniel Collins and Cristobal Lorente fought out a draw in October [SNS] Scottish boxer Nathaniel Collins has put his body "through hell and back" in his bid to move a "massive" one step away from achieving his world title dream. After he and Spain's Cristobal Lorente contested a draw in Glasgow in October, the pair will do it again at the city's Hydro Arena later this month - only this time the stakes are much higher. The winner will become the official mandatory challenger for the WBC featherweight title.
"I am feeling great - the camp has been brutal, I have put my body through hell and back, so I am really looking forward to just getting out there and going and getting the job done," Collins told BBC Scotland. "I have just done more training sessions, longer training sessions , harder training sessions. We took ourselves away to Los Angeles for eight, nine days for world-class sparring with world champions, so I have really left no stone unturned.
"It was amazing, I sparred the previous featherweight world champion, he has just moved up [a weight], Mark Magsayo. I sparred with a couple of Russian guys, it was exceptional. "The sparring out in America, it is different to what you get here.
You are in with people who have been there at world level at different weights, multiple weights. "They don't know you, they don't care about you, they are coming to take your head off basically, so it is not friendly, everybody is watching you. " Collins 'gutted' after split draw in European title bid Boxing schedule and results 2026 Watch every Born to Brawl episode Collins has a near perfect professional record, with the draw against the similarly undefeated Lorente the only blemish in his 18 senior outings.