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12-17, 6th round of welterweight fight Sammy Vasquez Jr. vs. Luis Collazo: A powerful short straight right hand by the 35-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y. native put Sammy Vasquez Jr. on the canvas in the sixth round of their 10-round welterweight battle. Vasquez was down and not getting up. Referee Bill Clancy waved it off at 1:27 of the round. And for the second week in a row, a big knockout punctuated a Premier Boxing Champions card. This one took place on FS1 at the Horseshoe Tunica Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Miss.
“Going into the fight I knew he didn’t like the body shots,” Collazo said. “In the locker room my team was telling me that he’s going to be waiting for it. We wanted to touch him soft down low and then go up top. We opened him up. We both tried to line up the hook and mine landed first.
Vasquez won’t argue with that. Collazo (37-7, 20 KOs), who had not fought since his loss to Keith Thurman in July 2015, started slowly as Vasquez (21-2, 15 KOs) looked to control the fight with his movement and jab. The action picked up in the third round as Collazo connected with a hard right hand that put Vasquez on the canvas for the first time.
Vasquez regained his legs and stunned Collazo in the fourth round with an overhand left but Collazo was able to hold off his younger opponent and do damage with body shots and short, tight punches.
Date: 2017-02-02
Where: At Tunica, Miss. (PBC on FS1/Fox Deportes)
Division: light heavyweight (175 lbs, 79.4 kg)
Title: WELTER WEIGHT TITLE
Result: Luis Collazo KOs Sammy Vasquez Jr. in 6th round
After a tactical fifth round, Vasquez tried to get his offense going but Collazo was prepared and connected on a vicious right hand in the sixth that ended the fight.
“I knew his big punch was the right hook. I was working on keeping my hand up to block it. I dropped it at the wrong time and he got me,” said Vasquez, an Iraq war veteran. “Obviously this is going to set me back. I need to come back stronger. I hope that I can come back and fight someone that can help me move up the ranks.”
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