William Ray "Irish" Collins, Jr. was born in
Tennessee, on September 21, 1961. He was an undefeated professional boxer,
14-0-0 (11KO), when he was forced to stop boxing after his last televised fight
that took place at the Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York, on
June 16, 1983, and Collins was permanently injured by boxer Luis Resto, of
Puerto Rico. Resto had used illegally tampered boxing gloves, and later admitted
that even his wraps had plaster soaked in them (Resto admitted this in 2007).
Resto's trainer, Panama Lewis had removed the stuffing. Collins fight was
ultimately ruled a "no contest", and he suffered permanent damage to his eyes,
where he only had blurred vision, with a torn Iris).
In October of 1986, Luis Resto and Lewis were convicted of assault, conspiracy,
and criminal possession of a deadly weapon, which was considered "his hands",
and he served 2.5 years in prison. Both were also banned from boxing "for life."
Collins lost his life on March 6, 1984, when he was in a vehicle accident near
his home in Antioch, Tennessee. [Boxing
Record]
