Nathaniel Collins has some pressing business of his own to attend to but that hasn’t stopped the 28-year-old Scotsman from keeping his eye on the world featherweight scene.

In May, Collins (17-0, 8 KOs) produced a career best performance to stop Lee McGregor inside four impressive rounds and secure his position as the WBC’s No.1 ranked contender.

On October 4, the former British and Commonwealth champion will challenge Spain’s Cristobal Lorente (20-0-2, 8 KOs) for his European 126lb title at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena.

He will take a brief break from his preparations and pay close attention to events in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on August 16th when Liverpool’s WBA featherweight champion, Nick Ball, defends his title against the undefeated Sam Goodman on the ESports World Cup Fight Week card. DAZN will stream the event globally.

Collins is expecting his British rival to successfully defend his title for third time.

“Yes, pretty easily probably,” Collins told The Ring.

Late last year, Goodman worked his way into position to fight undisputed super bantamweight champion, Naoya Inoue.

Unfortunately for the Australian, the cut eye which forced the postponement of the original December date reopened during sparring ahead of the rescheduled rematch and Goodman’s big opportunity evaporated.

He didn’t have to wait long for a second chance but now faces the toughest test yet of his credentials.

Not only will this be Goodman’s first foray into legitimate world class, he will be stepping up from the 122lb division and directly into a fight with arguably the strongest featherweight in the division.

Collins doesn’t believe that Goodman will be strong enough to handle Ball’s physicality.

“I don't think he is. Also, the question is durability,” he said.

“With him pulling out of the Inoue fight twice, he's probably seen whatever dollar signs are there because it's a Riyadh Season card or whatever. I think you would question his durability with his cuts over his eyes and stuff from the Inoue camps.”

Any time two world level fighters from the same weight division are part of the same promotional stable, the usual plan is for them to be guided along parallel paths until the time is right for them to cross.

Collins revealed that the idea of a fight with his Queensberry stablemate, Ball, was first floated earlier this year.

“I think there was talk of it at one point and I think it was quite a short-notice thing,” he said.

“Obviously, I said “yes” but I think this was when they ended up going with TJ Doheny. I think it was round about that time and then the date changed and the opponent changed and stuff.

“It was just one of those that was in the wind. It was just a question put to us. Obviously, we said yes. We would love that fight.”

Collins’ status has changed. He would still jump at a fight with Ball but the prospect of a short notice trip to Liverpool no longer heads his list of priorities.

Beating McGregor and securing his place at the top of the WBC rankings opened Collins’ horizons and he now foresees a scenario where he wins the WBC title and enters a fight with Ball on an equal footing.

“That's when you're talking big-time unifications. Frampton - Quigg type level,” he said.

“I think we've been on a bit of a collision course for a number of years now. Hopefully, it happens at some point.”

The only man between Collins and a shot at the WBC title is the governing body’s interim champion, Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington.

In July, the New Yorker won the belt by outpointing the unheralded Namibian, Mateus Heita, over twelve one-sided rounds.

Although Collins and Carrington are both desperate for their shot at the full title, the situation is complicated. WBC champion, Stephen Fulton, is being strongly linked to a move to junior lightweight whilst Mexican veteran, Rey Vargas, remains the WBC champion in recess despite not fighting since March 2024.

Collins knows that as long as he beats Lorente, his and Carrington’s paths are almost certain to cross. Whether that is a final eliminator, a vacant title fight or a mandatory challenge should the American be upgraded remains to be seen.

“He's started talking now,” Collins said.

“You know what? He's number one on the hit list. That's who I want. I want to get through this and then get him.

“I wasn't majorly impressed with his interim world title win. I never thought the guy he was fighting was a world beater and he was catching him clean so I wasn't majorly blown away by that performance.

“I definitely would be interested in that.”