By Jim Dower: Former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo (37-7, 20 KOs) destroyed Sammy Vasquez (21-2, 15 KOs) by a devastating 6th round knockout on Thursday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox Deportes at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. Collazo dropped Vasquez twice with huge right hands on the inside.
By Jeff Aranow: Former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo (36-7, 18 KOs) successfully weighed in at 145 ½ pounds on Wednesday for his fight against Sammy Vasquez (21-1, 15 KOs) on Thursday on Premier Boxing Champions on FS1 and FOX Deportes at the Horseshoe Casino, Tunica, Mississippi.
(Photo credit: Ryan Greene/Premier Boxing Champions)
Vasquez, 30, weighed in at 146 pounds for their scheduled 10 round fight. This is a must win fight for both fighters, especially the 36-year-old Collazo, who has lost two out of his last three fights and hasn’t fought in 19 months since his 7th round stoppage loss to WBA World welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman on July 11 in 2015.
Exciting welterweight contender Sammy “The Sergeant” Vasquez Jr. (21-1, 15 KOs) is set to battle former world champion Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) in the 10-round main event of a special three-hour edition of Premier Boxing Champions on FS1 and FOX Deportes Thursday, February 2 from Horseshoe Tunica Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.
Televised coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and will feature Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas (17-3, 8 KOs) meeting Georgia’s Levan Ghvamichava (17-2-1, 13 KOs) in a 10-round matchup of hard-hitting welterweights plus Houston’s Ryan “Cowboy” Karl (13-0, 9 KOs) taking on Chicago’s Eddie Ramirez (15-0, 10 KOs) in a 10-round battle of unbeaten super lightweights
By Dan Ambrose: Last Saturday’s fight between Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) and WBA 147lb belt holder Keith “One Time” Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) brought in decent numbers in coming in at 1.1 million viewers on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN. While the numbers weren’t spectacular given that it was on free television, it was more three times the viewers ESPN’s Friday Night Fights was pulling in before it was cancelled after years, according to Dan Rafael.
The Thurman-Collazo fight didn’t bring in the viewers that was expected to, but it wasn’t a great product to begin with. When you put together a fight between a champion and an aging 34-year-old 2nd fighter like Collazo, you’re asking for trouble.
By Gerardo Granados: Last Saturday July 11 at the Sundome Tampa, Florida; undefeated WBA Welterweight belt holder Keith Thurman W26(22)-L0-D0 defeated southpaw Luis Collazo W36(19)-L7-D0 when the challenger refused to continue and retired on the seventh round due a cut that didn’t allow him to see. After the fight ended there was a buzz on internet on how Khan was better than Thurman because he have looked better against Collazo, but I think those arguments are not valid.
When a hard punch lands there are not many things you can do about it except to react to it. What happens after the punch lands proves many things, either you have heart and show it or you lose your poise and composure and end up retreating into survival mode.
By Dan Ambrose: Heavy underdog Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) almost pulled off a huge upset last Saturday night when he caught WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) with a perfect left hook to the body in the 5th round that knocked the air out of him causing him to double over in pain in their fight on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN.
Thurman, 26, says he considered dropping to a knee for a brief count to recover from the body shot, but because he’s a champion, he didn’t want to be seen taking a knee. It might have made Thurman look bad in front of his fans at the USF Sundome Arena in Tampa, Florida.
By Scott Gilfoid: After beating Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) last Saturday night at the USF Sundome Arena in Tampa, Florida and narrowly avoiding being knocked out himself in the process, WBA World welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) says he wants to face the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, Manny Pacquiao, Tim Bradley or Marcos Maidana.
Thurman feels he’s ready for all those guys and he says he’s willing to put his unbeaten record on the line against them if possible.
I'll merk that boy
— Errol Spence (@ErrolSpenceJr) July 12, 2015
By Dan Ambrose: #8 WBA welterweight contender Errol Spence Jr. (17-0, 14 KOs) didn’t appear to be too impressed with the performance from WBA World welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) with his eight round TKO win over one of the relics from the past in Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN from the USF Sundome in Tampa, Florida.
By Dan Ambrose: WBA World welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) survived a shaky 5th round to come back and score and 8th round TKO victory on a cut stoppage over former WBA 147lb champion Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) on Saturday night at the USF Sundome, in Tampa, Florida, USA. Collazo told the referee Telis Assimenios after the 7th round that he couldn’t see out of a cut over his right eye.
By Dan Ambrose: WBA World welterweight champion Keith Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs) thinks he has everything to lose and nothing to gain in his title defense against Luis Collazo (36-6, 19 KOs) tonight at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. The fight will be shown on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN starting at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. ET.
Thurman sees himself in a situation where he won’t get any credit for beating Collazo, because he was already beaten badly by Amir Khan last year in a one-sided 12 round decision loss. Besides that, Collazo isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies, and he’s up there in age at 34.