Former Cardiff City and Aston Villa defender James Collins was knocked down by a brutal blow as he suffered defeat on his boxing debut against Big Stacks.
The 43-year-old Welshman stepped into the ring at London's Copper Box Arena on Saturday night as part of the undercard for Joey Essex's Misfits Boxing clash with Dapper Laughs.
Collins, who retired from football in 2019 after a 19-year career, took the fight at short notice after replacing The Apprentice star Tom Skinner. He had just four weeks of training to prepare for the bout.
Knocked down in third round
The former Wales international was floored in the third round by his opponent, whose real name is Charlie Robert, and only just managed to beat the referee's count.
Known as the "Ginge" during his playing days, Collins showed plenty of resilience to continue until the fourth and final round. However, Big Stacks' greater boxing experience proved decisive.
The judges awarded the fight to Big Stacks via split decision, with scorecards of 39-36, 37-38 and 38-37. Despite the defeat, Collins earned praise from his opponent, who acknowledged the former defender's toughness and admitted he could "scrap".
Football career highlights
Collins began his career in Cardiff City's academy in 1998 and broke into the first team two years later. He moved to West Ham in 2005 before joining Aston Villa in 2009, featuring in the 2010 League Cup final against Manchester United.
He later returned to West Ham for a second spell before finishing his career at Ipswich Town. Collins also represented Wales and was part of the squad that reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals.
Other results on the card
Joey Essex and Dapper Laughs fought to a draw in the night's main event, with both men expressing an interest in a rematch after a split decision. Elsewhere on the card, Swarmz and Ambush also shared a draw, while Lil CraCra defeated Andrew Howson and Joey Knight via TKO in a three-way survivor tag-team fight.
Jordan McCann beat Modeen via TKO, while Plinio Cruz knocked out Gary Olive with a body shot in the second round. Nitboy and Kane West teamed up to defeat Little T and Cracky Tokky by unanimous decision in a chaotic tag-team contest.
Carla Jade also retained her lightweight title against Erika Night via unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the bout 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
