by James Slater: Unbeaten Ukraine 154-pounder Sergiy Dzinziruk had his U.S debut back in May, halting a brave Daniel Dawson in the 10th-round in Santa Ynez, CA, and now the 34-year-old southpaw known as “Razor” is set to take a second bout in America – and this time it will be against a more recognisable name.
Fightnews.com have reported how the reigning WBO light-middleweight champ will face former WBA welterweight ruler Luis Collazo on October 2nd (venue to be announced). Currently 37-0(23), Dzinziruk is excited at the thought of facing fellow lefty Collazo, 30-4(15), but he told Fightnews that the fight he really wants is one with yet another southpaw – this one a 6’2″ southpaw who is well known in the U.S; Paul “The Punisher” Williams.
“After my first fight in the USA, against Daniel Dawson, I’ll fight with Luis Collazo,” Dzinziruk said to the invaluable news web site. “I’m assured it will be a fight that will be interesting for me, but I want the big fight with Paul Williams. Paul, I will find you and I will knock you out!”
While it’s debatable who would win if the two tall southpaws met, one thing is clear – Williams-Dzinziruk is a fight that hardcore fans have had on their lips for some time now. Their names have often been put in the same sentence, but thus far, for whatever reason, Williams and Dzinziruk have not met in the ring. This could change if the Ukrainian can look good against the experienced Collazo, however.
Collazo, last seen in the ring back in June of 2009 (when he won a tune-up-type affair against David Gogichaishvili in the 6th-round) was down as facing unbeaten Turk Selcuk Aydin a while back, but Collazo said he could no longer safely make the 147-pound limit. So now the 29-year-old who is probably best known for giving Britain’s Ricky Hatton a real nightmare of a fight back in 2006 will make the move up to 154 to face the avoided Dzinziruk. The New Yorker looks to have a tough, tough fight ahead of him!
As resilient and as hard as they come, Collazo’s last big fight came against WBC welterweight boss Andre Berto. That January 2009 thriller was an extremely closely contested battle, and the chin Collazo showed proved his toughness. Also losing on points to Hatton and Shane Mosley in welterweight title fights, Collazo has more than proven his worth as a fighter over the years. And age-wise he is much younger than Dzinziruk at just 29. However, in terms of wear and tear, Collazo has a good number of miles more on his clock than the WBO 154-pound champ has on his.
Also, Collazo’s recent inactivity may hurt him in October. Add the fact that the former champ will be having his first fight at a new weight (at least since 2005, when Collazo did box a couple of fights at 155-pounds – and he did box as high as 158 even further back in his career) and the odds look to be firmly stacked in Dzinziruk’s favour. But can the man known as Razor stop Collazo and look good doing it?
Collazo has been halted just once as a pro – way back in 2002 (when he was stopped on cuts? Correct me if I’m wrong) – and his chin has always been reliable (again, see the war with Berto if you want proof). And to be fair, Collazo, despite being the shorter man, has a longer reach than Dzinziruk. Maybe the man many observers felt deserved that decision in the Hatton fight can pull out another stunning performance and derail Dzinziruk and his chances of landing that big fight with Williams?
One thing is sure, Collazo doesn’t figure to go over early – if at all – and a long fight could well be on the cards. Still, unless Dzinziruk is looking past Collazo and dreaming of bigger things, he should keep his belt and perfect record. After all, does Collazo have the firepower to be able to hit and hurt the sharp and damaging puncher?
Collazo could last the distance, maybe even be entitled to claim he was treated unfairly once again by the judges afterwards, but my money has to go with the champion. I see Dzinziruk joining Edwin Cassiani as the only two men to have ever stopped the man from Queens.