Victor Ortiz faces Luis Collazo this Thursday, Jan. 30th in Brooklyn, New York

By Boxing News - 01/26/2014 - Comments

ortiz454By Dan Ambrose: In his long awaited comeback, former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KO’s) will be in the ring this Thursday night against 32-year-old former WBA 147 lb. champion Luis Collazo (34-5, 17 KO’s) in a fight between two guys that have seen better days at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Ortiz will be turning 27-years-old this Friday, and while it’s hard to see him as an over-the-hill fighter, it’s still difficult not to put him in that category based on his last two fights [both losses] and his long layoff from the ring.

Ortiz was injured in his loss to Josesito Lopez in his last fight in June of 2012 in suffering a fractured jaw. But instead of taking just enough time off for this jaw to heal, Ortiz took a year and half off, and he’s now returning to the ring as a forgotten fighter in a division that has improved dramatically since the last time Ortiz fought in it. Despite his layoff and consecutive defeats to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Lopez, Ortiz sees himself as being able to step back into the mix at 147 almost immediately following his fight with Collazo.

Ortiz is already talking about wanting a rematch with Mayweather, and I’m sure that Golden Boy Promotions would love that idea because it would be another one of their fighters getting a crack at Mayweather. Even if he doesn’t get a fight against Mayweather, Ortiz is going to find himself in some big fights in 2014 and 2015, but he’s going to need to start winning again because as soon as he gets beaten, Ortiz will be taken backwards against weaker opposition.

The Lopez fight was a move that was seen as a tune-up for Ortiz after his 4th round stoppage lost to Mayweather in 2011, but surprisingly, Ortiz lost the fight after quitting on his stool after the 9th round due to the pain in his broken jaw. Golden Boy Promotions has now found Ortiz another tune-up opponent in Collazo, and if he can’t beat him then it’s going to put Golden Boy in a position where they’re going to need to make a big decision whether they should cut their losses with Ortiz and let him go or keep trying to build him.

At 27, Ortiz will still be young enough to turn his career around, but if he can’t even beat guys like Collazo and Lopez, then it might be best for Golden Boy to terminate his contract with their company and focus on bringing up other fighters that are capable of fighting at the top rungs of the 147 lb. division.

The co-feature bout on the Ortiz-Collazo fight will see junior middleweights Eddie Gomez and Daquan Arnett facing off in a 10 round bout.

Collazo really needs a win over Ortiz to put himself back in the 147 lb. mix, as he hasn’t fought a worthwhile opponent since his loss to Andre Berto in 2009. Collazo stepped back from top level opposition after that defeat, and he’s been facing largely fringe level and 2nd tier opposition ever since. Since the loss to Berto, Collazo has fought these guys: Alan Sanchez, Miguel Callist, Steve Upsher Chambers, Freddy Hernandez, Franklin Gonzalez and David Gogichaishvili. It looks like Collazo got himself into a run in terms of facing weak opposition and he was never able to pull himself out of until now.



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