Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) hasn’t even fought at welterweight yet, and he’s already seeing himself ruling the division with an iron fist. Khan, 27, is moving up to the 147lb division to face the Golden Boy promoted fighter Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) on May 3rd on Showtime pay-per-view on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight card.
The fight is supposed to be a competitive one, but Khan is still considered the favorite to win it. It’s not a situation where you can truly say it’s a 50-50 fight.
Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) says he received a personal phone call from Floyd Mayweather Jr. recently and told by him that he’d be one of his last three fights of his career. Mayweather didn’t say at which point that Khan would get a fight against him, but it’s likely to be sooner rather than later depending on how things go with Khan’s fight against veteran Luis Collazo on the undercard of Mayweather’s unification bout against WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana on May 3rd.
The chances are high that if Khan destroys Collazo in impressive fashion, he’ll wind up facing Mayweather at the end of the year if Khan’s schedule permits.
Amir Khan will be making his case to win the next Floyd Mayweather Jr sweepstakes on Mayweather’s May 3rd undercard when he faces former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Khan will be moving up to the welterweight division to face a true welterweight in Collazo. Collazo is coming off his second round knockout of Victor Ortiz last January.
Collazo is no pushover and always comes to fight. If Khan is not careful he might be on the end of a knockout punch similar to the one Ortiz suffered. Khan is really taking a step up after he had trouble with Julio Diaz in his last fight.
In a sign that Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) sees his May 3rd fight against Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) as a prelude to him getting a big money/cash out fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September or early 2015, Khan says he’s going to be calling Mayweather out at the post press conference after the May 3rd Floyd Mayweather v. Marcos Maidana fight on Showtime pay-per-view at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Khan says he would like to face Mayweather. Oddly enough, Khan isn’t saying he’d like to fight Maidana if he beats Mayweather, but you would have to hope so because that would look like of funny if Khan kept pushing for a Mayweather fight even if he lost to Maidana.
An explosive matchup of two world-class fighters is coming to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 3, when British superstar and former Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Amir “King” Khan faces Brooklyn native and WBA International Welterweight Champion Luis Collazo in the 12-round welterweight co-main event of “THE MOMENT: Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana” on SHOWTIME PPV.
A media conference call featuring both fighters is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26 at
3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT. Additional details to follow this announcement.
Luiz Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) is a veteran that has had his share of big fights. He was a top contender in the welterweight division and gave Andre Berto and Ricky Hatton tough fights when they were in their prime. Time has passed and Collazo went under the radar because he wasn’t given the benefit of the doubt in those fights that some even say he won.
Events at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY build up nicely for the shortened main event. First Gary “Mr” Russell, Jr. 24-0-0 (KO 14) proved he is better than most even when he’s not feeling well. He let that slip at the pre-fight meeting with the media. Any questions Fox Sports1 announcers Barry Tompkins, Paulie Malignaggi and Bernard Hopkins about how he would perform were quickly answered. Gary demonstrated he is deserving of serious consideration in the feather and super featherweight divisions by making short work of veteran Miguel “Yaqui” Tamyo. 15-8-2 (KO13) Russell gave up height and reach, but you wouldn’t know it.
He is so smooth and such a good manager of distance that he seems always to be in range, that and the fact that Yaqui cooperated as well. Unfortunately for him, it really didn’t matter whether he tried to be aggressive, either at short range or from a distance. For Gary, Yaqui was always within range. His speed, power and accuracy were just too much for Yaqui. He would try to block the shots and counter, but it was quickly apparent he was getting beat down.
Eighteen months off for Victor Ortiz resulted in just below six minutes in the ring as he was shocked by a right hook from Luis Collazo. Tonight was all about Victor Ortiz who for awhile was being pushed along by Golden Boy Promotions as the next possible star and after a bumpy road this may be the final set back. Ortiz in the prefight hype claimed he never really left the gym despite having a badly broken jaw and that his physique should show it. Well Ortiz looked to be in great shape but he came out tight in the first round and was wide with his shots. He won the first round and was aggressive. His lead hand work was pretty good as his jab and right hook appeared to be on point. Luis Collazo fought a relaxed and intelligent fight looking to set up the left hand in the first round. The second round became interesting as both men traded left hands early in the round.
In the 2nd round, Ortiz’s wild fighting style finally caught up to him when he was tagged by a hard right hook by Collazo while in the process of throwing another one of his own shots. The punch from Collazo snapped Ortiz’s head back, causing him to spin around and bend over facing the audience.
Collazo didn’t waste any time in taking advantage of the helpless Ortiz by landing a left hand that barely connected to his head followed by a light right hook that sent Ortiz down on the canvas on his knees. Ortiz then stayed in that position while the referee counted him out. The official time of the stoppage was 2:59 of the round.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (January 27) – Photo by HoganPhotos – Fighters for the Victor Ortiz vs. Luis Collazo card gathered at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, N.Y. to workout for the media and hold a press conference before their respective Thursday, Jan. 30 fights at Barclays Center airing live on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes.
VICTOR ORTIZ, Former WBC Welterweight World Champion
“We’re so ready, we’ve had the best sparring partners and we’re ready to get in the ring. Training camp was really good.
[On experiencing “ring rust”] “Absolutely not, I’m completely 100 percent confident. I have no ring rust whatsoever.