Mosley To Face Collazo On February 10th?
By David Lahr: According to the latest news gossip, Shane Mosley (43-4, 37 KO’s) will be taking on Luis Collazo (27-2, 13 KO’s) on February 10th, instead of Kermit Cintron, who is rumored to have been injured in training. This bout, however, would appear to be even more interesting, since Collazo, a former WBA welterweight champion, is a tough, defensive-minded fighter, one that recently gave Ricky Hatton all he could handle for 12-rounds, in May 2005, though ultimately losing a controversial decision. Collazo, 25, is ten years younger than Mosley, and arguably has the better stamina of the two, which would make him a potentially dangerous opponent, particularly the way in which Mosley appeared to fade in the 2nd half of his fights against Oscar De La Hoya in 2003, Winky Wright in their two fights in 2004, David Estrada in April 2005, Jose Luis Cruz in September 2005, and Fernando Vargas in February 2006.
Ignoring Mosley’s last bout, a 6th round knockout over a weight depleted Vargas in July 2006, and it would seem that Mosley no longer has the stamina to fight hard for a full, 12-rounds, something that will likely happen against Collazo, who has an excellent chin and an air-tight defense. It would appear likely that Mosley’s main hopes of winning, besides trying going for a quick knockout, would be for him to attempt to build up a huge lead, by winning the first 7 rounds of the fight, and then coasting for the final five, hoping to steal one or two of them along the way.
As it stands, this bout will easily be the toughest for Mosley in recent years, maybe even tougher than his bouts with Winky Wright, who for the most part, was content to throw mainly jabs, as is his custom. Collazo, on the other hand, is a well noted counter puncher, with the added ability of putting heavy pressure on his opponents, like, for example, in his fight with Ricky Hatton, in which Collazo not only punished the British fighter when he was coming forward, but also was able to back him up in the later rounds, when Hatton began to tire.
Much worse for Mosley, is that Collazo is a southpaw fighter, and his style of punching will likely cause a lot of problems, considering Mosley only has one month to prepare for the bout. With Mosley coming forward, as is his custom, he will likely be meeting a straight left hand each time he comes in range, and though Mosley is the faster, harder puncher, he’s not in the same defensive class as Collazo. So, essentially, this fight comes down to Collazo, with his superior youth, stamina, southpaw stance, and defensive ability vs. Mosley with his high punch volume in the early rounds and superior punching power. For me, I see Collazo’s youth being too much for Mosley, whom will likely run out of gas from the steady pressure from the youthful Collazo.
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Posted January 3rd, 2007 l 109 views
