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Twenty one years after they fought, Nigel Benn and Steve Collins say they are about to get it on again.
However, there is no date or venue for a third fight and neither retired boxer — both over 50 — has applied for a boxing licence.
The British Boxing Board of Control is unlikely to sanction the fight, but that may not stop it from happening in October or November.
Englishman Benn, 53, and Irishman Collins, 52, have not fought since the 1990s. Benn, who won world titles at middleweight and super-middleweight, retired in November 1996 following a second successive defeat to Collins.
Dublin-born Collins, who last fought in July 1997 and also won world titles in two weight classes, has run a farm in Hertfordshire since retiring.
Despite their good humour, both seem serious about fighting each other. Collins admits his decision to box again is purely financial and denies the pair are putting their health at risk.
“It’s very dangerous… for Nigel,” Collins joked to the BBC.
He added: “I had an MRI recently and the neurosurgeon was very pleased with how it was. I’ve more or less been preparing myself for 20 years for the Roy Jones fight so I’m ready.
“Of course I will knock him out again. But Nigel looks in better shape than when I fought him years ago.
“It’s just about money, a payday which will allow me to buy some more land for my horses and sheep. If the money’s right I’ll have it again.
“I have no problem for Nigel. I have a lot of respect. I like him.”
Benn will be watching his son Conor (6-0, 4 KOs) in action at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday and has recently been living in Australia.
“It’s about the final chapter, it’s about closure,” Benn told the BBC.
“I was going backwards and forwards with Chris [Eubank] and I thought, ‘I wouldn’t have a problem with Steve’. So I asked him if he wants to fight. He said ‘yes’. No mucking about.”
Benn claimed to feel like Benjamin Button, the F Scott Fitzgerald character who becomes younger in appearance as he gets older.
“I am Nigel ‘Benjamin Button’ Benn. I feel like I am in my thirties,” he said.
Both boxers have sons who are now professional fighters.
Collins son, Steve Jr (10-1-1, 4 KOs), tweeted on Thursday: “When I’m 50 something and have a midlife crises, I will just buy a new motor bike. You get me.”
In their first fight in July 1996, Benn was unable to continue in the fourth round due to an ankle injury and Collins then defended the WBO super-middleweight title in November when he forced the Londoner to retire in his corner at the halfway point.
Benn had a three-year reign as WBC super-middleweight champion (1992-1995) with epic encounters against the likes Chris Eubank and Gerald McClellan. He also beat Doug DeWitt and Iran Barkey in WBO world middleweight title fights in America.
Collins turned professional in America and also held world titles at middleweight and super-middleweight. He beat Chris Pyatt for the WBO middleweight belt in 1994 before two points wins over Eubank a year later.
He was linked to a fight against Roy Jones in 2013.
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