By Timothy Medina: On Thursday at the Barclays Center located in Brooklyn, New York, Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) retained his WBA International Welterweight title against Victor Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KO’s). Collazo winning the fight was no surprise to me. What surprised me was how Collazo won. The fight ended much earlier than anyone had expected when Collazo landed a thunderous right hook on Ortiz’s chin that would leave Ortiz on his knees, unsure of what he got hit with, at the end of the second round.
Collazo’s victory over Ortiz was alarming and he has once again made himself noticed in the welterweight class. Even though he disposed of Ortiz, he has not made his mark in the welterweight class. Collazo has defeated a once very good fighter, yet, Ortiz had not fought since June of 2012, and is not the same as he was three years ago. There are top welterweights much tougher than Ortiz, that are standing in Collazo’s way of becoming one of the elite welterweights.
Collazo will have to step up to the plate and face a top welterweight if he wants to be in a world title bout again, especially if he wants to be noticed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. Retaining a non-world championship against Ortiz does not spark any interest in Mayweather Jr. and will not earn Collazo a world title bout. However, if Collazo can get a fight with Robert Guerrero, Keith Thurman, or Devon Alexander and come out victorious, we will see him going after a world title next year.
Although it is unlikely that Mayweather Jr. and Collazo will ever meet in the ring, there are two other undefeated world champions in the welterweight class. If Shawn Porter keeps a zero in his loss column, we could see him defend his IBF Welterweight championship against Collazo next year. Timothy Bradley will obviously have a fight after his rematch with Manny Pacquiao. If Bradley is still WBO Welterweight champion after 2014, we could see him defend his belt against Collazo as well. Maybe neither of them will be holding their belts going into 2015. If they are still world champions going into 2015, Collazo does not need to fight Mayweather Jr. to attempt to place the number one in a world champion’s loss column.
A world championship has once been around Collazo’s waist. He has fought the likes of Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley and Andre Berto. Fighting on the big stage is something he is not new to. At his age however, can he reach the big stage again? If he can, can he win on the big stage? Can Collazo claim a second world title? These questions will be answered in the near future.
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