Kid Coalminer, Australian Heavyweight Champ Colin Wilson, Dies at 54
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Brisbane, Australia (October 9th, 2026)– Former three-time Australian Heavyweight champion Colin ‘Kid Coalminer’ Wilson, a southpaw, also known as ‘The Birdsville Butcher’, who fought the likes of Joe Bugner, Corrie Sanders, Oleg Platov, Francisco Pianeta, Shane Cameron, Alex Leapai, Bob Mirovic, Lucas Browne, Kali Meehan and Peter Okello at the second tier of the heavyweight division, but who never reached contender status, died of a brain tumor at age 54 on October 5, 2026.
An experienced veteran scrapper, between 1992 and 2019 Wilson won 35 bouts, lost 33, and drew once, with 21 knockouts, and got knocked out or stopped 19 times, with most bouts against a who’s who of Australian heavyweights. Fighters whom Wilson fought two or more times included Bob Mirovic, Rick Thornberry, Gary Wills, Vince Servi, Joe Kiwi Kingi, Kali Meehan, Phil Gregory, Bob Gasio, Roger Izonritei, Pieter Cronje, Nathan Briggs and Alex Leapai.
Wilson was born in New Zealand but fought under the Australian banner. After winning only one of his last eleven bouts, he suffered first-round TKO losses to Joseph Goodall in 2018 and Kik Tua Leutele in 2019, which convinced Wilson to retire for good in March 2019.
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