NY Vet Luis Collazo Aims For February Return, Wants To Chop Down Danny Garcia

A day, even two days after Luis Collazo beat Sammy Vasquez via sixth round stoppage, back in February, is felt a buzz.

Weird, right?

Let me explain…Collazo is an older dude, for a fighter. He was 35, turned 36 in April, debuted way back in 2005, has ties to Brooklyn and Queens, and is someone I’ve seen a good deal in the last decade plus. Also, he’s not been secretive that he’s had his struggles, has had to fight to stay right in the head. Yeah, like many of us, though most are too “proud” to admit it.

He was 36-7 going in, and there were plenty of folks thinking he’d be the right choice to get Vasquez back on the W track, after he lost to Felix Diaz. Vasquez, after all, is younger, showed promise as a possible PBC building block/new face, and has a nice back story, being a vet. But Collazo flipped that script, and yeah, that often jazzes me. When people mess up those best laid plans, that deviation from the oft boring norm gets me pumped. But the way he did it, with marvelous mobility and super-quick hands and fiery determination, it really spoke to me.

I was quite keen to see what was next for Collazo, then, because, I confess, knowing him a bit, I kind of root for him some. (Yes, writers and media are human and do indeed sometimes root for the people they cover, shhh, don’t tell.) But then winter moved to spring, then fall, and now it’s wintry. Where’s Collazo been?

“My back was against the wall, and you notice every time my back is against the wall…I was one hundred ten percent focused all around for the Vasquez fight,” he explained. And why haven’t we seen him back in fighting form? “I suffered a bicep tendon rupture in training, for a fight this month (November), which was going to be against Danny Garcia. That one would have been good for me because Danny is one of the biggest names in boxing. And stylistically..he’s more stationary, he can punch, but all around I’m more a boxer. Right now, I’m getting ready, training, for something in February.”

That left arm is healed, after surgery, and he’s training but is still doing therapy on the arm. The pain, from one to ten, it was a nine…and the following day, “it really kicked in.”

OUCH…

Collazo said no foe picked yet, they are aiming for February, in NY. He’d heard they were talking him versus Errol Spence, but that was just air talk, it never really reached him in substance. Hmmmm…wait…Garcia doesn’t have his next picked, does he?

“So hopefully we can make that happen!”

We chatted about Garcia, and how he has a clothing line…we pondered if that says anything about where his head is. “To be honest, I don’t think Danny wants to be a fighter anymore. He’s trying to hand pick all his fight. Give the fight fans exciting fights! Yeah, you stepped up and fought Keith Thurman, now what you gonna do, pick another cherry? I will be a cherry, just for him! I’m perfect for picking right now!”