Nathaniel Collins thought he was ‘done’ before undergoing an eight-hour, dangerous surgery last May.
Fast forward 16 months, and the 29-year-old Scottish featherweight boxer is 17-0 in his professional boxing career and now fighting for a European title, which he hopes will boost him to world championship status.
I thought my career was over after life-threatening surgery – now I’m still undefeated and fighting for European glory
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Collins won the EBU silver featherweight title in May 2024 by outpointing Francesco Grandelli at York HallCredit: Getty
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Under two weeks later, ‘The Nightmare’ was rushed to the hospital after experiencing excruciating pain in his bodyCredit: @nathanielcollins – Instagram
Collins faces Cristobal Lorente on Saturday night at Braehead Arena, Glasgow, in what is his first big headliner show under Frank Warren‘s Queensberry Promotions live on DAZN.
The card features a plethora of upcoming Scottish talent, with the country looking for its next biggest star following the retirement of former undisputed champion Josh Taylor.
Collins is undefeated in 2025, having claimed the WBC silver featherweight belt in his last bout – a fourth-round stoppage win over Lee McGregor in Glasgow.
This came three months after he outpointed Darwing Martinez in what acted as a comeback fight after nine months out and a harrowing experience outside of the ring.
Just over two weeks after he defeated Francesco Grandelli in London, ‘The Nightmare’ was rushed to the hospital on May 21, 2024, feeling unbearable pain in his abdomen and sternum.
The pain was causing his entire body to shake and convulse uncontrollably, and after doctors put Collins through a series of tests, they detected that the boxer had a twisted bowel and deemed his injury life-threatening.
Nathaniel Collins’ first thought was boxing before life-threatening surgery
“I definitely thought when I was going in for surgery that was me done,” Collins told talkSPORT.com, reflecting on his time in the hospital.
“It was the first question I asked the doctor when he was saying, ‘Listen, we need to get you in for surgery.’ I said, ‘What’s going to happen with my boxing?’
“He told me, ‘We’re not bothered about that now, so just get through the surgery.’ So I definitely thought that was going to be me done.”
Collins was born with gastroschisis – a birth defect which occurs when a baby gets a hole in the wall of their stomach while developing inside the womb.
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Collins was born with gastroschisis, which, according to University Hospitals Sussex, happens his happens in approximately 1:7000 birthsCredit: Getty
Gastroschisis then causes the bowel to grow outside of a baby’s body near the belly button.
“Nothing has ever come of it,” Collins added, speaking on his birth defect, which he hasn’t let define him.
“I don’t know if anything was ever meant to come of it. I don’t know if the twisted bowel was directly a result of that – nobody actually ever made it clear why it came about.
“But, just due to things that had happened when I was a baby, the scar tissue and stuff inside caused problems.”
Collins underwent major emergency surgery for eight hours to untwist his bowel and repair the damage.
The 29-year-old outlined how he had to wait eight to 10 weeks to know if his boxing career was still intact following the surgery.
“I still couldn’t really walk,” he said.
“They used to give me a wee thing with balls in it that I had to try and blow the balls up to see if I could actually breathe properly again.
“So it took like 10, 12 weeks before I knew I was going to get back to actually training and doing it.
“But after I did get back, I was saying, ‘This cannot just define me, I will be back, and I’ll do what I need to do.'”
Collins said his time out of the sport allowed him rare time to focus on family and other things in his life he’s never had the chance to hone in on due to his hectic boxing schedule.
He already knew he was mentally tough, but struggled to build himself back up physically ahead of his win over Martinez.
‘The Nightmare’ says he only wants the best life for his family and friends through his boxing career, which he says will get back to world title level very soon.
He cites Floyd Mayweather and the lavish lifestyle of ‘Money’ as an inspiration for his goal to be ‘financially free.’
Collins: I can’t put my desire to get to the top into words
Collins says he feels different to opponents whenever he steps into the ring, given what he’s been through.
“I’m willing to go through a lot more than anybody else is,” he concluded.
“I think what I’ve been through has added to my mentality and added to my desire overall.
“The desire I have to get to where I’m going, I can’t even put it into words…
“I will go out and prove myself again this weekend and make a statement.
“Once that statement is made, I’ll be at world level. I’ve been there before, but now is my chance to show it on Saturday.
“After that, I’ll be at world level for a long time. I do truly believe that.”
Ringwalks for Collins vs Lorente are set to commence at 10 pm BST on Saturday.
Also on the card, Regan Glackin fights Louie O’Doherty for the vacant British lightweight title, while Aston Brown faces Paul Kean for the vacant Celtic middleweight title.