Ginger Pele Got Dropped, Got Up, and Went the Distance: James Collins' Wild Misfits Debut

LONDON

James Collins lost his boxing debut on Saturday — dropped hard in round three, up at the count, and gone the distance in a split-decision defeat to Big Stacks at Misfits Boxing's Copper Box Arena show in London. The 43-year-old former West Ham cult hero — the Ginger Pele, 51 caps for Wales, more than 200 appearances across two spells with the Hammers — took the fight on four weeks' training as a short-notice replacement for The Apprentice star Tom Skinner, and he finished it the hard way: flattened by a massive hook, hauled himself upright, and went all four rounds. He lost the split decision. He won everything else.

Collins retired from football back in 2019 after a 19-year career that ran from Cardiff's academy to Aston Villa and a short stint at Ipswich. Nobody — not the oddsmakers, not the crowd, not even the man himself — expected a polished boxing performance on a month's notice. What they got was better theater: the 43-year-old survived a brutal knockdown, heard the count at what felt like nine and three-quarter seconds, and not only survived the round but came back to have his strongest round of the fight in the fourth. One judge even scored it for him, 38-37. The other two went 39-36 and 38-37 for Big Stacks, the 33-year-old streamer and self-proclaimed "UK's hardest man," whose real name is Charlie Robert.

And here's the part that tells you this wasn't a circus: Stacks, who came into this talking the way streamers talk, gave the old footballer his flowers afterward. He admitted Collins "can scrap" and said he no longer thinks the ex-centre-back is an "idiot." Then Stacks went on an X-rated rant on the DAZN broadcast that forced presenter Anna Woolhouse to apologise live on air — and called out British bodybuilder Martyn Ford for his next fight. The circus went back to being a circus. But for four rounds, a retired defender earned a fighter's respect.

What the fight actually showed

The levels were clear early, and to his credit Stacks showed his extra boxing experience when it mattered — the third-round knockdown was a genuinely big shot, the kind of punch that ends a lot of debuts right there. Collins's head bounced off the canvas, and for a heartbeat the fight looked over. The fact that he beat the count, cleared his head, and outworked Stacks in the fourth is the entire story. A professional athlete's gas tank versus a streamer's finishing instincts, and the pro's legs were still there when it counted.

This is the thing about footballers who try boxing: the cardio base is real, but nothing prepares you for the first time somebody hits you clean with intent. Collins got that education in public, at 43, in front of thousands, with millions potentially watching on DAZN — and he passed the only test that matters, which is the one where you get up.

The undercard was absolute bedlam

Collins-Stacks wasn't even the wildest thing on the night. The co-feature between Jordan McCann and Mo Deen descended into farce and then into a fight after the fight: Deen repeatedly refused to keep his gum shield in, the bout was waved off and ruled a TKO win for McCann at 0:37 of round two — and that was after McCann punched a fan during his ring walk. A mass brawl followed the fight itself. If you're scoring the chaos, that sequence alone clears most fight cards for the year.

And Alex Pereira's longtime coach got in on the act: Plinio Cruz, 40, made his Misfits debut after losing a reported 100 pounds for the fight, and stopped Gary Olive at 0:58 of round two. Olive — DeMoor's coach — had taken the fight on short notice after Misfits heavyweight champion Chase DeMoor pulled out with an injury less than a week before the card. Cruz, who holds an 8-9 professional MMA record, then turned on DeMoor in the ring: props for the coach, none for the champ. "What kind of champ is that," he said, "he can't even back up his family." Read more on Pereira's camp and the impossible boxing move here.

The main event: boos for a draw nobody believed

Joey Essex and Dapper Laughs headlined, and it ended in the kind of result that makes people write "rigged" in all caps. Essex, 36 — the TOWIE and Love Island star, nephew of renowned trainer Tony Sims, who won his Misfits debut last year in a slug-fest — boxed cautiously behind the jab early. Dapper Laughs, real name Daniel O'Reilly, 42, took the fight on two weeks' notice to promote an upcoming film, dropped significant weight to get there, and fought like a man who knew his gas tank was the deadline: he pushed forward from the opening bell, landed the bigger shots, and hurt Essex multiple times before wearing down in the third and fourth.

One judge scored it 39-37 for Essex. Another for the comedian. The third called it even, 38-38 — a split-decision draw, and boos rang out around the Copper Box. Plenty in the building believed Dapper won it outright, and the online reaction was savage. Dapper, who stopped Simple Simon three years ago and has spent the years since trying to rehabilitate his image through stand-up under his real name, can count himself extremely unlucky. Essex can count himself extremely fortunate. A rematch feels inevitable — both men felt they did enough to earn the decision.

The line between entertainment and sport

This is the question Misfits never quite answers, and Saturday was the whole argument in one night. Plinio Cruz — a real combat athlete's real coach — looked like a professional in a ring with another professional, albeit a short-notice one. Collins vs. Stacks was entertainment with real stakes and a real knockdown and real respect earned. McCann vs. Deen was a farce that ended in a street fight. Essex vs. Dapper was a genuinely competitive fight spoiled by judging that nobody in the building bought.

The comparison point is right there: Jake Paul built the athlete-to-fighter crossover into an industry, and the sport's real elite — Anthony Joshua and his London 2012 gold — operate on a plane nobody confuses with this. Collins never pretended otherwise. He was a 43-year-old who took a fight on a month's notice because he fancied it, got dropped, got up, and finished. The Misfits machine will roll on — Michael "Venom" Page signed with the promotion on the night, in a cringey in-ring promo with KSI — but Saturday belonged to the old centre-back who refused to stay down.

Full card results: Big Stacks SD4 James Collins; Joey Essex SD draw Dapper Laughs; Jordan McCann TKO2 Mo Deen; Plinio Cruz TKO2 Gary Olive. For more fight-sports coverage see Friday's fight-sports daily and the boxers section.