BOXING:Steve Collins (48) has announced a return to the ring after a 14-year absence to settle a grudge with 44-year-old Roy Jones jnr.

The former WBO middleweight and super-middleweight champion, seems well aware this is a bizarre decision but the prospect of facing a man he claims avoided him all those years ago is too tempting to turn down.

“It’s not a comeback as such, at my age I’m too old for that, but it will be the end of a 15-year grudge,” he said yesterday.

“It’s a fight Roy Jones needs. He claims to be one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters around but he refused to fight me.

“I was very happy with my career, but the one fight I wanted was Roy Jones, and when that didn’t happen I retired. To me he was afraid of me. I don’t think he’s a coward, but at the time he was!

“But now it’s happening. I spoke to Roy and we’re going to get it on. He wants one more fight before he retires and this is the one he wants. If we get a good offer we’ll split it down the middle and get it on.”