I brought this up on the main board. I though it deserved its own thread...nearly 25 years later this fight still pisses me off.
A Fix : Billy Collins v Luis Resto *Video*
« Reply #1 on: 18, November, 2007, 10:18:27 AM »
Just south of Nashville, Tennessee there’s a community called Antioch. It's there boxer Billy Collins, Jr. made his home.
He grew up poor. He only had one pair of blue jeans to wear to school.
He washed them by hand and hung them to dry overnight. He’d waken sometimes to find the jeans frozen on the line. His house had plastic coverings for storm windows.
He came from a proud, hardworking and respected family that had deep roots in boxing. What he lacked in money, he more than made up for in character and determination, and became an accomplished amateur boxer.
Skilled, strong, tough, and courageous, Billy was an awesome fighter. He was trained by his father, Billy Collins, Sr. The senior Collins had been a professional and took pride in his son’s work ethic and his instinct for fighting.
Early in his pro career, Billy was one of the first ESPN Boxing Champions. He won the ESPN Welterweight Championship, was up-and-coming, undefeated -- on the brink of greatness.
On June 16, 1983 at Madison Square Garden, Billy fought on the under card of the Roberto Duran -vs.- Davey Moore World Jr. Middleweight Championship. He was matched against was Luis Resto, a journeyman brawler.
The fight was televised nationally on ABC Wide World of Sports. Billy was world ranked, 14-0 with 11 knockouts. He was on the verge of a world title fight.
This was to be his “golden opportunity.” Resto, had twice as many fights as Billy, but Billy was the favorite to win.
Before the start of the bout, Panama Lewis, Resto’s trainer, was yelling across the ring to Billy and his corner, “You’re going down, Collins! You’re going down!”
During the fight, Billy complained to his corner that Resto was, “hitting me with a brick.” Billy’s father asked him if he wanted to stop the fight. “No,” he replied. “I’m going to knock him out!”
Billy was in a real-life fight for his life. He traded punch-for-punch with Resto over 10 grueling rounds. Although he was never knocked down, Billy got a brutal beating. His grit alone kept him from going down.
When the fight was over, a despondent Billy headed back to his corner. Resto approached Billy’s corner for the customary handshake with the opponent’s trainer. When Mr. Collins grabbed Resto’s glove, he felt nothing but knuckles. Resto winced in obvious pain.
The senior Collins couldn’t believe it. He immediately demanded that the New York State Boxing Commission impound the gloves and investigate.
Initially, Billy lost a 10-round unanimous decision, but it was later ruled a “no contest” when it was discovered that Resto’s gloves had been tampered with by his trainer, Lewis.
What came to light during the criminal investigation was that just before the fight, Lewis removed padding from the gloves and basically turned them from protective gear into lethal weapons.
As a result of this criminal intent, Lewis and Resto were convicted of assault, conspiracy, and criminal possession of a deadly weapon in October of 1986. Lewis was incarcerated for one year while Resto served almost two years of a three-year sentence. Both he and Lewis were banned from boxing for life.
Billy’s injuries from that fight left him with permanent eye damage and doctors informed him he would eventually go blind. Those injuries ended his once promising career.
On June 16, 1983 they stole Billy’s future and his life. Billy died -- under suspicious circumstances -- nine months after the Resto fight in a one-car accident.
