By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) is very interested in facing Amir Khan next, and don’t be surprised if this is the fight that actually takes place rather than Khan vs. Adrien Broner. Collazo signed recently with the high-powered adviser Al Haymon, and with that signing he’s in the position to face Khan and other Golden Boy Promotions fighters.
The hilarious part about this is that Collazo figures that the winner of his fight against Khan should get to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. next, if he gets past WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana on May 3rd. Let me be the first to say this: I think that’s a terrible idea. I don’t see either Khan or Collazo deserving of a fight against Mayweather off of a fight like this. If Khan beats Collazo, then he sure as heck hasn’t done anything to deserve a fight against Mayweather; not in my book. Collazo may be ranked #3 by the WBA, but that guy isn’t in the class of someone like Keith Thurman, and that’s who Khan should have to fight in order to get a title shot against Mayweather.
I could give Khan a pass if he fights Adrien Broner and somehow beats him. But no way does Khan deserve a shot against Mayweather off of a win over Collazo. I think Collazo is a decent fighter, but before his recent win over an incredibly rusty and badly flawed Victor Ortiz last January, Collazo hadn’t beaten a live body in many, many years. Collazo had been fighting guys like Alan Sanchez, Miguel Callist, Steve Upsher Chambers, Freddy Hernandez, Franklin Gonzalez and David Gogichaishvili for the past 5 years. After five years of facing these guys, Collazo gets a win over Ortiz. I don’t care if Collazo beats Khan, he still won’t deserve a fight against Mayweather off of a win like that, and Mayweather will be making a mistake if he agrees to fight him because the fight won’t sell.
“I think that it would be a great fight,” Collazo told RingTV. “It doesn’t matter where I fight next. But I just want to give the fans a great fight, and I want that Amir Khan fight next. I would love that fight. We both wanted Floyd Mayweather. I believe that we should fight, and maybe if me and Amir Khan fight, and then, maybe Floyd could fight the winner out of that.”
If Khan wants a shot against Mayweather, he needs a win over a big name and Collazo is not a big name. He’s a name from the past, but he’s not been fighting the guys he should have in the past five years since his loss to Andre Berto. Khan needs to beat someone that has been active and fighting top tier fighters, and Collazo hasn’t been doing it.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Khan takes the fight against Collazo because it’s one of the safest fights out there for him. Other than Collazo’s win over Ortiz, he’s beaten no one of real quality during his career. Freddy Hernandez beat him in 2011. Collazo’s wins since then have been against obscure opposition.
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