UPDATE
WBO junior middleweight champion Sergei Dzinziruk (37-0, 23 KOs) has decided not to wait any further on the outcome of negotiations between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez. Instead, Dzinziruk is looking at a possible matchup with avoided southpaw Luis Collazo (30-4, 15 KOs) for October 2nd.
The five year reigning, undefeated titlist was in the running as a possible replacement opponent for Paul Williams if negotiations fell through with middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Presently, a contract impasse has been reached due a disagreement on the purse split.
Dzinziruk has made six defenses of his WBO title since winning it from Daniel Santos in 2005. In May, Dzinziruk made an impressive U.S. TV debut on Showtime with a 10th round TKO of Daniel Dawson.
Luis Collazo struggled to find a name opponent after losing a controversial decision to Andre Berto in January 2009. The bout narrowly lost Fight of the Year honors to Marquez-Diaz I. Collazo has fought once since, beating journeyman David Gogichaishvili in June 2009.
At press time, it is unknown if Showtime or HBO will carry the fight.
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This is a very good fight between two guys that no marquee names truly want to fight. Despite being Top 5 in their respective divisions for years, each man has had to hear their lack of “star power” as an excuse for not receiving big fights.
Collazo has received two bad breaks in career. One was the aforementioned Berto fight. The first was when he nearly knocked out an undefeated Ricky Hatton in the 12th round but lost a decision and his WBA welterweight title in 2006. With every loss, it’s taken him years to rebound off TV.
Dzinziruk’s path has been different. At age 30, he’s finally getting his first exposure in the States. A good win over Collazo could put him in place to make face the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora winner, newly crowned IBF titlist Cornelius Bundrage, Paul Williams or Alfredo Angulo.
As far as a prediction, I’m learning towards Dzinziruk. He’s better overall technically and possesses a very good, rhythm disrupting jab. Collazo has a tendency to fight in spurts while Dzinziruk is much more consistent with his punch output. Still, it’s good fight that I can see either man taking.
This is the type of fight that Showtime goes for; competitive and intriguing regardless of the star level. Look for them to add this match to the calendar.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 