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Collazo speaks about Cotto and Quintana and others.....
MAXBOXING.COM
Boxing’s equivalent of hitting the lottery is being a champ in a division that inherits a popular fighter. That division becomes the new darling, one where people take notice and that champ becomes an attractive prospect. In the case of the welterweight division, hitting the lottery doesn’t come close to describing how hot the division has become. With names like Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley and the winning ticket known as Floyd Mayweather all either plying their trade here or speculating about their transition into it, the division has become white hot.
All would seem rosy for a guy like former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo right? The man is a former titlist who gave a great account of himself in Ricky Hatton’s debut at welterweight. In fact, ask many who saw the fight in Boston and they will tell you Collazo won that night despite being on the wrong end of a decision.
Yet when people start to speculate about all the mouth watering matchups welterweight has to offer, rarely, if ever, is the name Luis Collazo brought up. The buzz around the division seems to either focus on the names coming into the division such as Mayweather, Mosley and Hatton or the young prospects of the division. First it was Columbian knockout specialist Joel Julio, who was being pushed into the spotlight as the possible next big thing. That was until he outworked by Carlos Quintana, who then became the new hot name. The latest is Paul Williams who earned his distinction as the “Next Big Thing” by beating the raw Walter Matthysse and current gatekeeper Sharmba Mitchell.
“We tried to do a Quintana fight but if I beat him, his team wanted a two fight deal on me,” said Collazo. “Now he’s the number two ranked fighter, scheduled to fight for the title against Oktay Urkal. Williams is the mandatory for Antonio Margarito. I’m still waiting for a fight. You really can’t tell what these guys are all about since they haven’t fought anybody. How are they going to be considered worthy of a title shot when they haven’t proven themselves?”
How overlooked has Collazo become? Consider that Boxrec.com has him ranked as the number 42 welterweight of the world, lower than Cosme Rivera, who we last saw on TV being obliterated by Zab Judah in three rounds; lower than Manuel “Shotgun” Gomez, who lasted all of one minute and 14 seconds in his fight with WBO Champ Margarito. One spot above him? Matthysse.
“I am ranked behind who?” asks Collazo. “It’s horrible man. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get the respect I deserve but it seems like all these guys are only interested in the money and not the match up. The politics in boxing are frustrating for sure.”
However, not all is lost for the Brooklynite. For the past month, Team Collazo has been trying to get Miguel Cotto’s attention in hopes that they can lure the Puerto Rico native to fight the New York based Puerto Rican, Collazo.
“I hear he is moving up to 147 so I would love to fight him. I want to expose him as the overrated fighter he is. Let Urkal and Quintana fight for the title. The Puerto Rican fans would definitely want to see a fight between me and Cotto. I know the fans in Puerto Rico would go for Cotto but I know I would get much love from the Puerto Rican fans in New York being Nuyorican myself. I know they would pull for me in Atlantic City.”
What does Collazo think about his chances against the hard punching Cotto?
“I would do the same thing to Cotto I did to Hatton when he came up straight from 140 to try for a title. After I exposed him you saw that he went back down to 140. Cotto would do the same thing. Who knows, maybe after I expose Miguel, he and Hatton can make that big fight at 140 they have been talking about.”
Even if a fight with Cotto doesn’t come off this year (it’s apparent that Cotto will instead fight Quintana in December), Collazo knows he has to stay active for the day when he actually has an opponent finally in front of him.
“I stay in the gym all year long. Nothing major, just to stay active and maintain that level for the time I get back in the ring”
Hopefully it’s not too much longer for him, or the next time we see him ranked he may end up lower than Kelson Pinto. I will let you search boxrec to see where Pinto is ranked.
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Originally Posted by killersheep
How about if Collazo stops moaning and starts fighting!
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