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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
Luis Collazo beat the bell — and Victor Ortiz — with one perfect punch.
The Williamsburg brawler knocked out the favored Ortiz in the closing seconds of the second round to reclaim his World Boxing Association International Welterweight title in front of hometown crowd of 8,050 at the Barclays Center Thursday night.
Collazo used a perfectly placed right hook to the jaw to rock the Ortiz. He followed with a quick left and another hard right on the stumbling fellow former world champ. That sent Ortiz to his knees up against the ropes before the referee called the fight with 2:59 left in the round.
The swift win moved the once-and-future champion.
“I got emotional,” Collazo said. “Once I seen him go down, I knew he wasn’t going to get back up.”
The 32-year-old Collazo, who was headlining at Barclays for the first time, admitted he isn’t known for his punching power, but concentrated on countering with combinations of hooks. Ortiz, who won the first round, landed a left to Collazo’s chest, but then left himself open for a return hook, which was all Collazo needed.
“I’m not a big puncher, but a hook on a hooker is deadly,” Collazo said. “Nice and short. Boom. A lot of people say I can’t punch, but I don’t know.”
The victory is the biggest for Collazo (35–5, 18 knockouts) since his return to the ring in 2011. The former World Boxing Association welterweight world champion said the victory provided him with a new beginning in the second half of his career.
He boldly challenged Floyd Mayweather to fight him in Brooklyn, but said he’s ready to take on the best available challenger to please the fans who have supported him through his career.
“We will have to see,” Collazo said. “If it’s a good TV fight and the fans want it, I like to give the fans what they want.”
This was Ortiz’s first fight in year and a half after suffering a broken jaw against Josesito Lopez. Since then he has competed on Dancing with the Stars and filmed the Expendables 3 movie. Ortiz (29–5–2, 22 knockouts) still pushed the pace as Collazo expected in the first round, but had trouble landing significant strikes.
Collazo found his confidence in the next round, feeling the 26-year-old Ortiz didn’t respect his punching power. He landed a quick jab to the face early, a strong combination, and a series of rights that gave him encouragement to be more aggressive in testing Ortiz’s chin.
“It got checked,” Collazo said. “It wasn’t too good.”
Collazo said the reaction of the Brooklyn crowd was “insane” when Ortiz hit the mat. He took it all in while shedding a few tears, knowing how important this fight was for his career.
“This fight was my future,” Collazo said. “Now with this win I’ve opened up my future.’’