Billy Collins

William Ray Collins Jr. (September 21, 1961 – March 6, 1984) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1983. He was undefeated before his career was cut short after his final fight when he sustained serious injuries against Luis Resto in their ten-round bout. Aided by his trainer Panama Lewis, Resto used illegal, tampered gloves with an ounce of the gloves' cushioning removed, along with hand wraps that had been soaked in plaster of Paris.

Early life Billy Collins was born to a working class Irish family in Antioch, Tennessee. His father and manager, Billy Collins Sr. (19372018) was a welterweight professional boxer during the late 1950s and early 1960s who won 38 of his 56 professional fights. Collins Jr. followed his father's footsteps and started training with him from a very young age. Also a welterweight, Collins won his first 14 fights as a professional, among them a decision over future world title challenger Harold Brazier.

Luis Resto fight Collins was matched against Puerto Rican journeyman Luis Resto at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 16, 1983, on the undercard of the Roberto Durán vs. Davey Moore light middleweight title fight. Collins entered the fight as a betting favorite but took a heavy beating for almost the whole fight and lost by a unanimous decision.

At the end of the fight, Collins' father, who was also his trainer, noticed that Resto's gloves felt thinner than normal and demanded that they be impounded. A subsequent investigation by the New York State Boxing Commission concluded that Resto's trainer, Panama Lewis, had removed an ounce of padding from each glove, making his punches harder and more damaging to Collins. The fight result was changed to a no contest.

Lewis' New York boxing license was permanently revoked, effectively banning him from any official role in American boxing for life. Resto was suspended indefinitely and never fought again. In 1986, Lewis and Resto were tried and convicted of assault, conspiracy, and criminal possession of a deadly weapon (Resto's plaster of paris wraps); prosecutors felt that Lewis' actions made the fight an illegal assault on Collins. Both served two and a half years in prison.

Injuries and auto accident In the Resto fight, Collins' eyes were swollen shut. He suffered a torn iris and permanently blurred vision, which left him unable to box again.

On March 6, 1984, Collins was killed when the car in which he and his best friend were driving crashed into a culvert near his home in Antioch, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The autopsy showed he died a short time later at the scene of the accident. According to an account in Sports Illustrated, the crash was intentional. At a 2008 press conference, Resto not only admitted to knowing that Lewis had tampered with the gloves, but had done so at least twice before. The 1983 incident and subsequent aftermath is covered in the 2008 Showtime documentary Assault in the Ring.

Professional boxing record