CRISTOBAL Lorente is still the European featherweight champion after boxing to a draw with Nathaniel Collins. While the commentary consensus on DAZN unsurprisingly favoured their man, it was a close fight with a few difficult rounds to score as it went on.
After 12 red-hot sessions of action, the judges handed in scores of 115-113 to Lorente (Eric Butel), 115-113 to Collins (Hugues Hellebaut) and a deciding 114-114 (Antonio Marogna).
Retaining his title, Lorente said he would entertain a rematch: “Of course, let’s go,” he said.
Collins disagreed, stating, “No way that was a draw. There were close rounds. He might have caught me with shitey wee jabs but it was nothing. Even with the rounds I decided to take off and recover, he did nothing.”
Collins started well, landing his sharp southpaw jab, followed by spiky straight lefts to the body in an attempt to weaken the 29-year-old visitor. Being groomed for world-level, Collins was eager to impress, which meant the fight caught fire early.
Following a rocky start, Lorente grew into it a little in the fifth, getting his left hook off more and more. Collins seemed to buzz him in the sixth and both got wild for a moment, creating fan-friendly exchanges.
The proud Euro champ from Barcelona was coming off second best but refused to be overawed, launching shots from both hands to keep himself in it while keeping Italian referee Giuseppe Quartarone at bay.
Lorente showed his guts and conditioning in round nine, firing in uppercuts and body shots, prompting a severe ticking off in the Collins corner between rounds. The championship rounds are so-called for a reason and the champion raised his game accordingly to even things up.
The frenetic pace continued right until the final toll of the bell as both men hugged while raising their arms in anticipation of victory. Only one man could prevail – or not, as it turned out. Lorente, who loves a draw, is now 20-0-3 (8 KOs), and Collins, who is new to the draw circuit, holds a 17-0-1 (8 KOs) slate.
