As Pascal Collins prepares to send Alen Babic to face Johnny Fisher, he looks back on some of the heavyweight division's most memorable upsets.
The 33-year-old Croatian Babich will face the popular Fischer on Saturday night at London's Copper Box Arena, mainly because the bigger Fischer packs a stronger punch and is regarded as the more devastating fighter.
Collins and Babich are teaming up for a second bout following his knockout of Steve Robinson in another part of the English capital in March, but Babich's Dublin-based trainer is far from intimidated by their position given he has overcome some pretty big challenges before.
The Irishman helped prepare his compatriot Kevin McBride for his 2005 fight against the great Mike Tyson, a bout that was also expected to be won by Tyson. As with the unbeaten Fischer, there were broad plans for Tyson to emerge victorious and move on to a more high-profile bout, but Collins, teaming up with Goody Petronelli – who was once a major influence on the career of the great Marvin Hagler – helped ensure McBride had his best night.
“I’ve known Kevin for a long time,” the trainer said, “we boxed together in our amateur days and I trained with the Petronelli brothers in the US. [Goody and Pat] In Brockton. Kevin had been building his career in England, but he ended up getting beat a few times, his contract was up and he moved to the States, so we lived together for a while. We knew each other, we both went to the gym, we trained together. I got him running, I made sure he was eating well, but Kevin wasn't living that lifestyle. It wasn't because he didn't want to, he just didn't have the knowledge.
“We were fighting on a main event card at Foxwoods Casino, and I [cut] About a week ago, we were training together. I was off the card and Kevin was on the card. Kevin said, “Can you still help me get ready?” So I did. He had just had a big win at Foxwoods. [stopping Kevin Montiy]Then he was offered a fight with Mike Tyson.
“The first thing he said was, 'Can you help me get ready?' So we moved to Brockton in Boston, 30 miles away, for two months. The reason I moved to Brockton was because DW Park was where Rocky Marciano used to run all the time. He was from Brockton and it was right around the corner from the gym. It was the same run that Rocky Marciano used to run every day. We took everything back to basics. We put in road work, because fighting Tyson at 39 is all about fitness.”
“If we're strong enough, fit enough and have the right game plan, we can beat him. [made] It was a really tough training camp. The game plan was based on Lennox Lewis vs. Tyson. It was based on Danny Williams, who had just beaten Tyson. “When he comes at you, lean into him, put your chest on his head, put your whole body weight on him.” And we did that. And the uppercut, and that's where Danny Williams was landing the punch.
“We were lucky. We watched the fights that Tyson lost. We had a proper training camp and the night before the fight we went to the cinema and saw the premiere of Cinderella Man. We actually went to see it. And they said, 'It's you, Kevin. The irony is that you're going to be Cinderella Man.'” Washington, DC.
“This was the night before the fight and the next day we were there and it was 99% Tyson fans and 1% Irish. But Kevin was convinced he had a chance. As the fight went on, with Tyson headbutting him, trying to break his arm, hitting him in the lower body, the feeling that he had the better chance grew. Tyson did everything to win. I knew Tyson was worried because if he relied on that tactic then no other tactics would work. 'Kevin, keep going, keep putting on weight.'”
Forty seconds into the sixth round, referee Joe Cortez deducted two points for Tyson intentionally headbutting McBride, who suffered a cut above his right eye. McBride, then 34, held off Tyson's pressure and had him on the edge by the end of the round.
He managed to hurt the once feared former world heavyweight champion with a succession of right punches and uppercuts, enough that he landed on his back on the canvas and was kept partially upright by the bottom rope.
Cortez's decision that McBride had pushed Tyson (reportedly paying him $5 million) may have been a sign of how much the officials wanted Tyson to finish June 11, 2005 with his 51st win. Tyson's trainer, Jeff Fenech, knew there was little more Tyson could do. He told Cortez at the end of the round that Tyson wouldn't come back for the seventh round. Cortez ended the bout. McBride had a life-changing win.
“He took away Tyson's strength, he took away his legs, so when Kevin started throwing punches at him, Tyson just went down. He had had enough. He couldn't last five or six rounds. He had no strength left. That was it.”
“What I didn't like was the abuse he got. People were throwing bottles at Mike Tyson. Anyone who knows boxing knows that Mike Tyson was 26, 27 years old and could beat anyone, and you have to respect that he's the older guy. It was a big win for Kevin McBride, but people didn't praise him because Kevin was 34, had just come off two losses and was a heavy drinker.
“He's been sober for seven years now, but that fight changed his life forever. It was a big night for me, believe it or not, because I was still boxing at the time. It was my first time getting involved in coaching. People were calling me after the fight, setting me up for fights, and that's how it started. That's how I got into coaching.”
“[It was] It was one of the best nights as a trainer. It was probably one of the best nights because me and Goody Petronelli were there. He was my coach and Goody was like a father to me and Kevin. He was coming to the end and it was something we did together.
“Every June, people call me wanting to talk to Kevin. It's probably one of the best wins I've ever had. It was a great night. It was a great night for Kevin, his family and the clones.” [in Ireland].
“But it was a bittersweet moment, because I looked at Mike Tyson and thought, 'He's not the Mike Tyson I used to be.' No disparagement to Kevin, but Tyson fought the fight. If Kevin had lost in the third or fourth round, Tyson would have beaten him. But Kevin hung in there because he was a big, tough guy. Tyson lost because he just didn't have the strength left to fight.”
