1964: Born Dublin, July 21st.
1983: Becomes Irish junior light-heavyweight champion.
1984: Irish ABA finalist.
1985: Irish ABA finalist.
1986: Irish ABA middleweight champion. On October 24th, makes professional debut against Julio Mercado, knocking him out in the third round.
1987: On October 10th, has first fight of the year, knocking out Jimmy Holmes in the first round. Then beats three more opponents, on points, making it four victories within two months.
1988: Fights Sam Storey in Boston for the Irish middleweight title. Wins on points after 10 rounds.
1989: On May 9th, meets Kevin Watts for the USBA middleweight title in Atlantic City. Wins title on points after 12 rounds. In July, successfully defends title, again on points, against Tony Thornton.
1990: On February 3rd, loses to Mike McCallum - his first professional defeat - when challenging for WBA middleweight title.
1991: Wins three fights, all in third round.
1992: On April 22nd, loses on points to Reggie Johnson in the United States when fighting for vacant WBA middleweight title. On October 22nd, loses again against Sumbu Kalambay, challenging for European middleweight title.
1993: Returns to winning ways and after two victories, claims vacant PentaContinental middleweight title, beating Gerhard Botes.
1994: On May 11th, wins WBO middleweight title after beating Chris Pyatt in Sheffield. Referee stops fight in fifth round.
1995: On March 18th, gains historic points victory over Chris Eubank, inflicting the Englishman's first defeat, and claims WBO super-middleweight title. On September 9th in Cork, the fighters meet in a rematch and Collins repeats his superb performance to retain the title on points. Defends title again in November when beating Cornelius Carr in Dublin on points.
1996: On March 9th, retains title when beating Neville Brown at Millstreet. Referee stops fight in 11th round. On July 6th, in front of a 20,000 crowd in Manchester, Collins beats Nigel Benn as the Englishman retires injured at end of fourth round. On November 9th, the two fighters meet again in Manchester and Collins triumphs again when Benn's corner throw in towel at the start of the seventh round.
1997: On February 8th, Collins meets European super-middleweight champion Frederic Seillier at London Arena and wins in the fifth round after the Frenchman was badly cut. On July 5th, beats American fireman Craig Cummings in Glasgow with a third-round stoppage after being knocked down in first round. Pulls out of arranged WBO super-middleweight title defence against Joe Calzaghe in Sheffield after returning from holiday, claiming he has been given insufficient time to prepare. Subsequently agrees to take the fight. On October 1st, it is announced Chris Eubank and Joe Calzaghe will meet with the interim title at stake, the winner to meet Collins. The following day, Collins announces his retirement.
