I like Vito in this fight, probably by decision. I think he would grind it out and wear Collins down.
Collins was a HUGE middleweight with great strength at the weight, i don't know how he ever made the weight.Fullmer-esque. Vito was a small middle that could have fought at welter were he around nowadays.No way he beats Collins with mauling and physicality and he's not going to outwork him either, i think this is a bad matchup for him, though it would be a gruelling, competitive fight. Collins greater versatility and size would be the difference.Vito better suited to frustrating textbook boxers, rather than taking on a bigger, stronger man that also likes to maul, crowd and foul.
Collins was just far more skilled, not a lot of pop, but stronger and really underrated craft. Collins was an excellent operator, honing the pace and tactics into his wheelhouse. It took a boxer the skill level of McCallum or Kalambay to beat him. Vito was not that.
Exactly. Collins was seriously "boxing clever". He could box quite well, see McCallum and Johnson fights and brawl when it suited, see Eukbank. Pretty fast hands too and great stamina, as stated, very underrated.
This is actually a really intriguing matchup. Ugly fukking fight. Two guys who made their living on making classical stylists look bad with their octopus imitations. Zero power between them, so it goes the distance barring any cuts from Vito. I dunno........I want to say Collins by decision. He was bigger and therefore (assumedly) stronger. That's about all I have on that.