GLASGOW, Scotland — In an all-Scottish featherweight scrap with both searching for the lift-off to world honours, Nathaniel Collins embraced a chaotic start and reigned supreme in style with a fourth-round stoppage against Lee McGregor to win the WBC Silver title.

The stoppage came at 1:45 of the fourth round, referee Mark Lyson stepping in just as McGregor's corner threw in the towel after seeing their man's unsteady legs and negative body language rather suddenly during a whirlwind stanza.

Unbeaten Collins (17-0, 8 KOs) made McGregor (15-2-1, 11 KOs) wait during a long ringwalk, soaking up the atmosphere after a hellacious year with injury and severe illness, would've had him seriously contemplating whether he'd be in a position like this again.

After a cagey opening round, the crowd noise swelled in McGregor's favour as he landed a howitzer of a right hook late in the second, briefly pinning Collins against the ropes.

The third was more nip-and-tuck, Collins giving as good as he got after success behind the uppercut earlier, while you could hear former IBF flyweight world champion Sunny Edwards barking instructions during the first-half of round four.

Less than 20 seconds later, they looked like they'd seen a ghost — their man was down twice, an oxygen tank being readied and Collins crunching body shots to boot as the wind was firmly in his sails.

"One year ago, in two days, I was lying in a hospital bed and didn't know if I was going to box again, so to say I would put on a perfomance of a lifetime in front of these people? I would have laughed, can't explain it in words. I'm a world-class boxer and can punch.

"America, Riyadh, wherever, I'd have done the same to [WBC world champion] Stephen Fulton," he bullishly told Queensberry's Dev Sahni post-fight after a statement showing.