Cable company sent me to collections

by Justin
(Tucson, AZ)

I was sent to collections by a cable company for not returning digital boxes when my account was closed. I had been told by my ex girlfriend that she was going to return two cable boxes to the cable company when we broke up/moved out of our co-habitated residence. I was the only person on the cable account and she never returned the boxes. The cable company sent me to collections. I recently got the two digital boxes back from the ex girlfriend. If I return the boxes to the cable company, will the collections account be removed? Or, since it has been sent to collections, is it too late to do anything with the cable company and I must pay the collection agency to get the item removed from my credit report? Any help you could give me in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.