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COLLAZO KOs ORTIZ IN ROUND TWO

Luis Collazo KOs Victor Ortiz in 2nd

Associated Press - espn.go.com

NEW YORK -- As soon as Luis Collazo threw the vicious right hook, he had a sense of the outcome.

Collazo was proven correct as his final punch knocked out Victor Ortiz at 2:59 of the second round in a welterweight fight at the Barclays Center on Thursday night.

Ed Mulholland/USA TODAY Sports
Luis Collazo's final punch knocked out Victor Ortiz at 2:59 of the second round in a welterweight fight at the Barclays Center on Thursday night.

"It was the shortest hook I ever threw," Collazo said. "It was awesome. I knew he was going to come in wide and I tried to beat his hook with my hook and that's exactly what happened."

Nicknamed "The People's Champ" for being from the Williamsburg section of the borough, Collazo (35-5) delighted his hometown crowd by catching Ortiz (29-5-2) with a right hook across the face. That sent Ortiz sprawling to the ground near Collazo's corner and when he was unable to get up, he was counted out.

Collazo recorded his 18th career knockout and the former WBA welterweight champion recorded his first knockout before the third round in nearly nine years.

After finishing off Ortiz, he made it clear whom he wants next and where he wants it to happen.

"I want Floyd Mayweather, in New York City, I want what the fans want!" Collazo said in an in-ring interview. "I want him to come to the Barclays Center here in Brooklyn."

Collazo, however, is more likely to fight fellow welterweights Keith Thurman and Marcos Madana, Adrien Broner and Amir Khan.

"It opens the door," Collazo said "Like I said before, the fight here was my future and now it's going to open up my future.

The quick ending spoiled Ortiz's bid from two setbacks that derailed his promising ascent up the welterweight chain. According to Collazo, Ortiz also seemed to overlook this fight and said that he would retire after losing.

"Absolutely (he overlooked me)," Collazo said. "(I got his attention) when I landed that hook and he didn't get up. "I'm just a competitive person. I don't like losing and I took care of business."

"Between me and him, he told me he was going to retire after this. Let's see if he keeps his word. Let's see what happens."

Ortiz, who turns 27 Friday, was the welterweight champion following a unanimous decision over Andre Berto on April 16, 2011.

In his first title defense, he was knocked out in the fourth round by Mayweather five months later and then broke his jaw in gruesome fashion during the ninth round against Josesito Lopez on June 23, 2012, in Los Angeles.

Besides training in the last 19-month absence, Ortiz made appearances on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and spent time in Bulgaria filming a part in the movie "Expendables Three"

"I'm good. I got caught, it's no big deal," Ortiz said. "It happens. I'm just one of the fighters and I put my heart out there."

In the co-main event, super welterweight Eddie Gomez (16-0) won a unanimous decision over Daquan Arnett (11-1) in a 10-round fight, taking the bout with scores of 98-91, 97-92 and 97-92.

The Bronx native briefly dropped Arnett in the seventh round with a hard right hook to the face, but despite a flurry of punches in the final minute of the round he was unable to produce his 11th career knockout.

In the first televised fight on the card, super featherweight Gary Russell Jr. (24-0) recorded his 14th career knockout when he stopped Miguel Tamayo 1:04 into the fourth round. Russell finished the fight by forcing Tamayo into a corner and the fight ended after he landed three consecutive hard right hooks.

Promoters said 8,050 attended the fight. The crowd included Brooklyn Nets' Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and Andray Blatche along with current WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia also in attendance.

Source: espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/10380251/luis-collazo-stops-victor-ortiz-early-hometown-brooklyn-bout

Victor Ortiz KO'd in comeback fight by Luis Collazo

Bob Velin, USA TODAY Sports

Luis Collazo, fighting in his hometown of Brooklyn, knocked out Victor Ortiz at the end of the second round in an early and stunning end to their welterweight fight at Barclays Center Thursday night.

Ortiz was fighting for the first time since breaking his jaw 19 months ago. He came out aggressively in the first round, but was caught by a hard right hook from Collazo with one second remaining in the second round.

Collazo had pushed the action in the second round, and was winning the round when he caught Ortiz on a counter right hook.

Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KOs), a former welterweight champion, was unable to beat the 10 count, and lost for the third consecutive time, clouding his future as an elite fighter. He was stopped in each of the three losses, including a fourth-round knockout by Floyd Mayweather and a ninth-round stoppage by Josesito Lopez, who broke Ortiz's jaw earlier in the fight at Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2012.

Collazo, 32, also a former welterweight champ but considered more recently as more of a journeyman, cried after Ortiz was counted out.

"Coming into this ring, I was excited. performing in Brooklyn in front of all my fans, in front of people I grew up with. To represent from the Borough of Brooklyn, I'm just stoked," Collazo (35-5, 18 KOs) said. "I'm excited man."

Collazo, who has won four fights in a row, said he was able to see Ortiz's punches coming.

"I knew he was going to come out aggressive, that's the type of fighter he is. I just wanted to stay on my gameplan, and see where he came from. I was seeing the shots coming wide open."

Just before the knockout punch, Ortiz, like Collazo a southpaw, threw a sweeping right hook that missed and Collazo countered with his short right hook that put Ortiz down.

"I'm not a big puncher, but a hook on a hooker is deadly," Collazo said. "It was nice and short. Boom! A lot of people say I can't punch, but I don't know."

Asked who he wanted next, Collazo said, "I want what the fans want. I want Floyd (Mayweather) here in New York. I'm tired of going to Vegas, Floyd, come here to New York and fight me."

On the undercard, televised by Fox Sports 1, in a battle of undefeated up-and-coming 21-year-olds, Eddie Gomez from The Bronx knocked Daquan Arnett from the unbeaten ranks, winning a unanimous 10-round light middleweight decision.

Gomez (16-0, 10 KOs), dictated the tempo most of the way, mixing body shots in with his frequent combinations. Gomez used one of those body shots to put Arnett (11-1, 7 KOs) on the canvas in the 7th round. Gomez won comfortably by all three judges, 97-92 twice and 98-91.

Gomez landed 154 punches to Arnett's 99.

Also, former Olympian Gary Russell Jr. upped his record to 24-0 (14 KOs) with a fourth-round technical knockout against overmatched opponent Miguel Tamayo.

Source: www.usatoday.com/story/sports/boxing/2014/01/30/boxing-victor-ortiz-vs-luis-collazo/5071165/