Luis Collazo, Age 41, Returns To Action TONIGHT in Florida

Ex world champion Luis Collazo returns to the battlefield tonight (Wednesday, April 19), taking on Angel Ruiz in the main event of a ten-round junior middleweight bout at the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

Collazo, a technically skilled lefty, holds a 39-8 record, with 20 KOs. He retired after an 8-7-21 fight versus then 13-0 Eimantas Stanionis. That bout got declared a no contest from a clash of heads in round four.

Luis Collazo is part of a three bout show from ProBox TV

Luis Collazo Has Been In With A Who's Who

Collazo had been functioning as something of a gatekeeper, getting fights with Sammy Vasquez, Bryant Perella, Sammy Vargas, and Kudratillo Abdukakhorov. The hitter turned pro in 2000, and scored a WBA welterweight crown when he beat titlist Jose A Rivera in 2005. He lost that strap to Ricky Hatton, and took bouts with Shane Mosley (2007) and Andre Berto (2009), taking Ls in the process. Collazo got into the PBC mix, securing bouts with Victor Ortiz (2014), Amir Khan (2014) and Keith Thurman (2015). The stoppage win over Ortiz, who entered the favorite, gave him a sweet career boost.

Here are the matchups which run on ProBox TV:

10 Rounds Jr. Middleweights TV# 3 Main
Luis Collazo________________vs_________________Angel Ruiz
Brooklyn, New York__________________________Culiacan, Mexico
39-8-20 KO’s_________________________________17-2-1-12 KO’s
152.6 lbs._________________________________________154 lbs.

Angel “Relampago” Ruiz (17-2-1, 12 KOs) began his career with five straight knockout wins. Also a lefty, he's 2-2-1 in his last five. Ruiz comes in off a draw against Jesus Najera last June. He maybe has youth on his side, being 25 years old, so this looks like a coinflip fight on paper.

Ruiz took a step up fight on Oct. 15, 2021, against Giovanni Santillan. That bout impressed the fight callers on ESPN:

6 Rounds Welterweights TV# 2
Vadim Musaev______________vs_______________Martin Alvarez
Miami, Florida____________________________Los Mochis, Mexico
5-0-4 KOs______________________________________7-0, 6 KOs
147.2 lbs._______________________________________150.8 lbs.

Musaev and Dzanie Apparently The A Sides

Musaev is another lefty, who turned pro late. On 9-9-22, he stopped then 10-3 Enver Halili in round one. He is the favorite coming in, I think, being that he has his next fight booked, in May, same venue. He's still a work in progress, who can be wild and sloppy. But once he settles down, he looks like maybe a decent prospect.

Alvarez is the B side here, good record, but he's fought people with losing records and is in a weight class maybe too high for his frame.

10 Rounds Jr. Featherweights TV# 1
Prince Dzanie__________________________________Jose Salas
Accra, Ghana________________________________Tijuana, Mexico
23-0-19 KOs____________________________________11-0-9 KOs
121.8 lbs._______________________________________121.8 lbs.

Prince “Octopus” Dzanie (23-0, 19 KOs) has the best name in boxing. He fought for Ghana in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Yes, he's older, at 38. I checked in to see what he is all about, read this story from Bad Left Hook. He told me “Octopus” isn't a nickname, by the way.

Like so many fighters, his schedule has been erratic, he didn't fight in 2020, once in 2021 and once in 2022.

Salas (11-0, 9 KOs) has power, but his competition has been mediocre, so this looks to be a step up in class for him. His youth, he's 21, could work in his favor or be a detriment against a veteran who's done way more rounds. Will he feel out of sorts in Plant City? Salas has not fought outside of Tijuana.