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The Snake And The Mongoose
Luis Collazo is a fast and slick fighter. His performance against Ricky Hatton last year, despite the loss, showed skill that would be a complication for any fighter. But Shane Mosley is no turtle. He’s returning to welterweight, where he’d had a lot of success, and in spite of his 35 years, Mosley feels that he hasn’t reached his prime.
On February 10, Shane Mosley will attempt to win a WBC Welterweight title eliminator against opponent Luis Collazo in a 12 round fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, broadcast on HBO.
SaddoBoxing was invited to a phone conference with both fighters and the following reveals much of what Mosley and Collazo are each thinking going into an important crossroads fight.
Collazo is unperturbed by a lack of welterweight sparring. “Shane is not a natural 154 pounder or 147 pounder. He’s a natural 137 pounder,” he says. “I’m not looking for no real power. I’m looking for speed, quickness. I’m used to fighting heavier guys. He’s probably about 80% of his prime. A lot of people think he’s the best and all the better for me when I beat him Saturday night.”
But Collazo is vague as to how he plans to defeat Mosley, perhaps holding back on a secret plan to be revealed in the ring. When asked if he feels he has to win convincingly to get the decision if it goes the distance, he says, “To be honest with you, I don’t have nothing to prove so I’m going to go and do what I do best and it’ll be real clear that I will come up with the victory.”
Collazo then critiqued his previous performance against Ricky Hatton. “I believe going into the fight I was the world champ. I pushed him back when I wanted to. I just controlled the fight. I could have been myself more. I felt like I had something to prove to the boxing critics and to the media. Now I’m going to enjoy myself and be myself. I’m not no Vargas or De La Hoya, I’m a Luis Collazo. Getting this opportunity is a great opportunity for me.”
When speaking about the upcoming bout with Mosley, he adds, “Every boxer is waiting for it. After the Hatton fight if it wasn’t for my team, DKP believing in me, I wouldn’t be about to fight one of the best fighters in the world.”
And he’s careful not to look past Mosley to potential match-ups with the likes of Miguel Cotto. “Let me take care of this job Saturday. That’s a fight in the future a lot of people would like to see.”
Collazo is respectful of Mosley, but at the same time confident. “Mosley’s a great boxer, but I believe I’m bringing more to the table right now. I’m not intimidated. I never was. If I was intimidated I might as well have picked another sport. I’m like the movie Apocalypse. In boxing you can never fear another man. Whatever he brings to the table I’m going to have answers for it”.
He even has an answer to the odds makers in Las Vegas who have Mosley as a 3 to 1 favorite. “I’m always the underdog and I like to keep it like that.”
But I wanted to nail down something solid. Collazo was crafty, unwilling to commit to what his strategy will be. I asked him, “In a prior interview you stated “I’m considered the people’s champ, the uncrowned champ. On February 10, I feel like I’m defending the title’: how will you translate that in the ring?”
“Go in there, display my talent,” said Collazo. “Just show the world what type of fighter I am. I’m just bringing so much to the table right now. After the Hatton fight I’m just learning so much.”
I tried a different angle and asked, “What does your opponent do well that you’ve had to prepare especially for?”
“To be honest, Mosley is just a tough fighter,” said Collazo. “He accomplished a lot in boxing. It’s just another tough fight. I don’t see no real big thing on him.”
Collazo went on to say how when he was coming up, he’d watched Shane and that he always wanted to fight him someday. Mosley wasn’t a favorite of his, but he was exciting in the lightweight division.
Mosley was more forthcoming, but only just so. He sounded very relaxed on the line, almost as if he’d been awakened from a nap but explained he was as ready mentally and physically as he needed to be.
“Sugar” sees Collazo’s southpaw stance as being more problematic than the ten year age gap between them. “I had several rounds of training with southpaws, just so I can get the look,” said Mosley. “I was already in great shape. It was just the technical stuff.”
He went on to explain that his speed, power and abilities to adapt in the ring are going to carry him through this fight. “I’m just looking to go out there and do what I do best. I’m a superb boxer and a superb puncher.”
Despite his age, Mosley doesn’t see himself slowing down. “I’m very young feeling right now,” he said.
Mosley also isn’t making the mistake of looking past a very able opponent. “I think I’m very up to the challenge and because he’s a southpaw it’s something different. He has a pretty good style, good counterpuncher. I’m just ready to go”.
But dreams of dollar signs from bigger names like Mayweather or a third matchup with De La Hoya aren’t completely forgotten. “I wanna hit everybody,” he said. “Not just this one or that one; everybody’s gotta chance at Shane.”
Mosley stated that he was in fight mode and that he hasn’t felt this good before. “I felt like, damn, I’ve never been so high in my life.” And to those of us who thought he sounded a little too laid back, he added, “I just want to conserve my energy for the fight.”
Mosley had this to say in assessing Collazo’s fight with Ricky Hatton: “Ricky Hatton goes straight at him and throws wild punches. Hatton doesn’t throw punches as hard as I do. Ricky Hatton doesn’t have my speed, my power or my movement. It’s a totally different fight. The way I been feeling now and the way I been working out, I don’t think anybody can beat me.
“The peak is coming. I been getting better and better with each fight. It’s like I’m going back in time. I think it’s the training that I’m doing and the mental prep. I’m just getting older and wiser. Learning different things. I just feel good. It’s great to get to know your body and your spirit.”.
When asked about difficulty with taking off the seven pounds to get to welter, Mosley answers easily. “It doesn’t seem to be difficult for me. I hit 147 in camp, uh, 147 and a half. I noticed when I fought Vargas the second time, I was training a lot lighter 149, 151 and much of my punching power had increased. Maybe I had more snap. I’m just a little bit faster. I think I have more power in the lower division. I think 147 is better.”
I asked him, “You haven’t fought at the welterweight limit since 2002. Do you expect to have more speed and power than you’ve had in the past couple years?
“I’m going to have a lot of speed and I’m going to have power too,” he said. “Fast.”
“How do you expect to fair against Collazo’s speed and slick style?”
“He has good speed. Also I have good speed. We have to see who has the best speed come Saturday night.”
Mosley also responded to Collazo’s claim that he was faster than Shane. “That’s for him to think and us to find out. I know he’s not faster than me. Let’s all find out who’s the slickest, who’s the fastest, who’s the wisest. I think I’m getting better and better and better. I’m getting so much faster it’s getting scary to me.”
“What do you predict for this fight?” I asked. “Do you think you can knock him out? Will you dominate him? Will you hurt him?”
“There’s no need to ask me that question,” Sugar responded in a cool tone. “I think I can knock everybody out when I get in the ring. If I catch anybody with the right punch, I can take them out.”
