BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Last night’s edition of Golden Boy Live! delivered what will likely be one the year’s top comeback stories in Luis Collazo needing just two rounds (and a few right hooks) to derail Victor Ortiz’s comeback via a surprise KO. In addition, Eddie Gomez proved to be a top prospect to continue following with a strong performance against previously undefeated Daquan Arnett, who he dropped in round seven in route to a clear unanimous decision win. Onto to the highlights.
COLLAZO KO2 ORTIZ: Luis Collazo finally did it. For years, the man has fought hard but always come up short against the biggest names on his resume (Shane Mosley, Andre Berto, Ricky Hatton). He had not received an opportunity for a big name fight since losing a disputed decision to Berto back in January 2009. After he lost to Freddy Hernandez last year, it seemed Collazo’s window had closed.
But you can never count out a person’s will to succeed. It’s been said before and it needs repeating — boxing is a sport where mental strength trumps the physical. Ortiz had everything in his favor. He was younger, bigger, stronger, and had less wear and tear on him. He should have been able to bully Collazo around the ring, and tried to do just that in the opening round by winging wide, hard hooks to Collazo’s head and body.
The veteran Collazo remained composed, looking to time counters and never gave up too much ground to give Ortiz confidence. In the second, Ortiz threw a telegraphed, sloppy left hook that thudded against Collazo’s chest. Ortiz was out of position and could have clinched to reset, but couldn’t resist the temptation to fire off a right hook from his hip.
Bg mistake.
Collazo had never lost his balance and unleashed a compact right hook that landed perfectly on Ortiz’s jaw, whose body immediately went into knockdown physics. His legs jerked and his body heaved, drunk on Collazo’s power. Ortiz turned away from Collazo as if trying to brace himself to fall gently to his knees. Collazo wouldn’t give him that luxury and added another right hook that put Ortiz and his career in shambles on the canvas.
Ortiz was still lucid, but the fire and confidence was gone. Collazo had returned him to his own personal boxing hell, which were those nightmare nights of brutal defeats to Marcos Maidana and Josesito Lopez. Ortiz wanted no parts of reliving those hard outings and stayed down.
FROM THE ASHES, ONE RISES: A tearful Collazo thanked God for his win and finds himself right back in welterweight picture. He called out Mayweather for a showdown at Barclays, of course knowing that won’t be happening. But I like his ambition, and he’ll definitely be a tough opponent for any welter on Golden Boy’s roster and might even get a headlining spot on another Barclays card to close out the year.
“I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to win,” said Collazo. “I went through hard times and maybe I wasn’t ready before, but I was ready today.”
“When I was in the locker room, the joy, happiness and excitement hit me that I have the opportunity to perform in Brooklyn in front of my fans and the people I grew up with here.”
“I knew Ortiz was going to come out and be aggressive and I had to stay focused and stick to the game plan. People say that I can’t punch, but I guess they’re wrong.”
There were many on Twitter last night, including Golden Boy founder Oscar De La Hoya, who have called for Ortiz to retire. The 27-year-old wouldn’t comment on his future plans and simply stated the obvious.
“I’m good,” stated Ortiz. “I got caught. No big deal. It happens. I put my heart out there.”
Indeed, Ortiz likely showed all the heart he had in him after 19 months away from the ring. Unfortunately for him, he’s discovered it’s not enough to continue being a top-level player in the welterweight division.
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EDDIE GOMEZ UD10 DAQUAN ARNETT: In an intriguing battle of unbeaten prospects, Eddie Gomez (16-10, 10 KOs) proved to be too strong and fast for Daquan Arnett (11-1, 7 KOs), whom he toyed with at times in route to a wide unanimous decision win (98-91, 92-92 twice).
The smaller Gomez got inside Arnett’s left jab at will and pounded the body with right and left hooks. Gomez also used his right hand as a potshot weapon from the outside to freeze Arnett. That strategy paid off handsomely when he rocked Arnett with a lead right upstairs, and dropped him with a left hook to the body. Because the two knew each from the amateurs and had fought/sparred previously, there was a lot of trash-talking (mostly on Gomez’s part). At one point, Gomez was even instructing Arnett on how to make adjustments (“Go to the body! No, no…work the body!”). While fun to watch, Gomez admitted afterward that those antics, including a bad stretch of shoulder-rolling that gave Arnett some life in later rounds, probably prevented him from getting a stoppage.
“I should have gone to the body earlier and I think I could have gotten him in four or five rounds,” Gomez explained. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to get this fight. I took full advantage and worked hard.”
There’s nothing worse that seeing prospects pad their stats with useless bouts. I hope Golden Boy keeps matching their young guys tough once they get 10-15 bouts.
GARY RUSSELL JR. RETURNS WITH TKO: Another overmatched opponent, but Russell got him out of there quickly.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 