On October 22, 1992, a 28-year-old Steve Collins (21-2, 10 KOs) and a 36-year-old Italian boxer Sumbu Kalambay (55-5-1, 32 KOs) met in the ring in a middleweight bout.
Collins came in to the fight on a 1-fight losing streak with a 43% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 6 months. Kalambay was on a 4-fight win streak with a 52% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 4 months and 16 days.
Sumbu Kalambay defeated Steve Collins via points decision in the 12-round middleweight fight. Kalambay improves his record to 56-5-1, while Collins adds a loss to his record at 21-3.
On April 22, 1992, 27-year-old Steve Collins (21-1, 10 KOs) and 25-year-old Reggie Johnson (30-2-1, 20 KOs) fought for the vacant WBA middleweight title.
Collins came in to the fight on a 5-fight win streak with a 45% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 4 months and 11 days. Johnson was on a 1-fight win streak with a 60% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 4 months and 5 days.
Reggie Johnson defeated Steve Collins via majority decision . Johnson improves his record to 31-2-1, while Collins adds a loss to his record at 21-2.
On February 3, 1990, a 25-year-old Steve Collins (16-0, 6 KOs) got a shot at the middleweight WBA title held by 34-year-old Jamaican boxer Mike McCallum (36-1, 31 KOs).
Collins came in to the fight on a 16-fight win streak with a 37% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 13 days. McCallum was on a 4-fight win streak with a 83% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 8 months and 24 days.
Mike McCallum defeated Steve Collins via unanimous decision and successfully defended his WBA middleweight title. McCallum improves his record to 37-1, while Collins adds a loss to his record at 16-1.