Ortiz vs. Collazo – The Quitter and The Resurrected

By Michael Byrne - 01/31/2014 - Comments

ortiz1By Michael Byrne: Going into the fight on Thursday, Victor Ortiz was the heavy favorite over Luis Collazo. In fact, a cynic might say that Collazo was there to allow Ortiz a soft return to the ring against a known name. It was supposed to be easier than the originally inked Ortiz – Carlos Molina fight on the Adrien Broner – Marcos Maidana undercard. However, Collazo knocked Ortiz out in the second and showed that he was not to be taken lightly.

Collazo wasn’t washed up like some critics were suggesting, and the first round demonstrated both men were there to win. The first round was tight, with both men landing punches and taking turns at being aggressive. Maybe Ortiz was a bit busier, but it was just an opportunity for both men to seize each other up. Collazo looked much better in the second. Ortiz was over-eager, and despite his pre-fight claims, was definitely rusty. He was constantly off-balance, his timing was poor, and he had trouble throwing combinations.

In fairness to Collazo, his movement and counter-punching were very effective. Ortiz did land one eye-catching three-punch combo and had several other successes, but the majority of the round seen Collazo pot-shotting Ortiz as he tried to rush in. The knockdown came right at the end of the round, when both men were in the pocket and Ortiz landed a left to the chest of Collazo, then threw a right without putting his left hand back up. Collazo took full advantage and crashed a short right-hook into Ortiz’s unguarded chin, spinning him 180-degrees, and Collazo chased him and threw two more punches as Ortiz staggered across the ring and sunk to his knees, head between the ropes.

Referee Benjy Esteves Jr. counted to ten as Ortiz just kind of knelt in an upright position with both knees on the floor, head bowed. He quit. Again. Obviously he was stunned by a big, unseen shot to the jaw, but he was still conscious, and the fact that he was able to maintain this kneeling position suggests that his legs were still under him, because your quads and other leg muscles have to stabilize this position. And it’s not as if he took a liver-shot or something similar and he couldn’t breathe, he just didn’t want to get back up.

After two rounds with Collazo he had had enough. We saw it against Maidana, and we saw it against Josesito Lopez. Yes, his jaw was broken in that fight and he was young and had to think about his future, but Arthur Abraham beat Edison Miranda with a broken jaw, and more recently Ricky Burns held on against Raymundo Beltran after getting his jaw broken in the second (even if Beltran did deserve the decision). But Ortiz quit against Lopez to live and fight another day. Well, another day arrived last night and he quit again. He either retires or never sees a big fight again. Simple.

Collazo, on the other hand, finally got a chance to have his still-existent skills broadcast to the masses for the first time in a while. Before last night, Collazo racked up three straight wins against poor opposition, but some people assumed he was over the hill because Freddy Hernandez, who has since lost four consecutive bouts, decisioned him in 2011. Before that, Collazo had only lost a reasonably close decision to an undefeated Andre Berto, a wide decision to a not-yet-ancient Shane Mosley, and a disputable decision to Ricky Hatton as well as an early loss.

At 32 years old and 35-5, Collazo has resurrected himself in a busy Welterweight division. He called out Floyd Mayweather Jr. after the fight, but it’s pretty clear he’s never going to get that fight. However, he does have some more realistic options. Perhaps the most exciting fight for the fans, and the most logical, would be Keith Thurman – Collazo if Thurman doesn’t get the Maidana fight (even though he does deserve it). It should see plenty of leather getting exchanged, and if Collazo wins then he’s set himself up as WBA mandatory, and if Thurman wins then he’s got a much-needed scalp on his record and some much-needed exposure.



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