05.01.07 – LAS VEGAS – Boxing superstar and Three-time world champion Sugar Shane Mosley makes his long awaited return to the ring on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV., with a new opponent in the opposite corner but the same desire to kick off the New Year with a resounding bang. Now looking to take Mosley down will be former welterweight champion Luis Collazo, an exciting, upset-minded boxer / puncher eager to topple the three-division titlist.
“Battle At The Bay” – Mosley vs. Collazo, will be presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Don King Productions. The fight will air live on HBO World Championship Boxing at 9:45 PM EST / 6:45 PM PST. Tickets to Mosley vs. Collazo are priced at $300, $200, $100 and $50 and go on sale Saturday, January 6 at noon. Tickets will be sold at any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s stores and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com..
“Mosley-Collazo is a great way to start off 2007 for Golden Boy Promotions,” said company President Oscar De La Hoya. “Mosley and Collazo are both slick boxers who aren’t afraid to get in the trenches and battle it out toe to toe, so I’m expecting a memorable fight on February 10th.”
“I call Luis Collazo the uncrowned champion because everyone who saw him fight the sensational Ricky Hatton last year knows he successfully defended his WBA welterweight title,” King said. “Luis took everything Hatton threw at him and still had ‘The Hitman’ out on his feet in the final round.
“I give a lot of credit to Shane Mosley for taking this fight. Luis is young, can box and has a lot of heart. Shane has never backed down from a challenge and he’ll get one from Luis Collazo on February 10.”
“Luis Collazo is a rising star in this game, and I’m looking forward to matching skills with him on February 10th,” said Mosley. “I’m coming to fight and to put on a great show for the fans, and from what I’ve seen of Collazo, he feels the same way. I’m ready to go to war.”
Mosley’s career (43-4, 37 KOs, 1 No Contest) has been epitomized by a willingness to face the best – anytime, anywhere. From the lightweight to the junior middleweight divisions, his commitment to excellence has been unquestionable. Mosley is a future Hall of Fame fighter who has won world championships in the lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions. The only man in history to defeat Oscar De La Hoya twice, he is currently riding a four-fight winning streak which includes back-to-back victories against former world-champion Fernando Vargas. At the age of 35, the blazing-fast Mosley plans to kick off his quest for a fourth world championship with a big win against Collazo.
“I am very excited to be in another marquee fight,” Collazo said. “I’m younger than Shane so I have admired him for a long time. It says a lot about Mosley that he didn’t avoid me like some other fighters have in the past because I’m a slick southpaw.
The 25-year old Collazo (27-2, 13 KOs) was considered a child prodigy after winning the 147-pound novice division in the prestigious New York Golden Gloves at the age of 16. The proud Puerto Rican had no trouble after turning professional, racking up win after win. The larger fights eluded him until he got his first world title shot, on just two weeks’ notice, against WBA Welterweight Champion Jose Antonio Rivera on April 2, 2005. Collazo made the most of his opportunity, winning a split-decision in Rivera’s hometown. After defending his title with a TKO of ring legend Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Collazo later lost his crown to British superstar Ricky Hatton with a highly-controversial 12-round decision in May 2006. Since the loss, Collazo has bounced back with a sixth round stoppage of Artur Atadzhanov and would like to add Mosley to his list of victims.
A world-class undercard will be announced in the near future.