By Ian S Palmer
Veteran welterweight Luis Collazo of Brooklyn, New York will be facing unbeaten Kudratillo Abdukakhorov of Uzbekistan in a 10-round bout in Philadelphia this Friday, October 18th. The contest will be shown live in the USA on ESPN and ESPN Deportes while those in Canada can check it out on TSN 2. Collazo last fought March when be beat Samuel Vargas by a 10-round split decision. Abdukakhorov was last in action in March as well when he beat Keita Obara by a 12-round unanimous decision.
The 38-year-old Collazo is 39-7 with 20 Kos to his name and he may have some ring rust since this is just his fourth fight since 2015. He’s a solid veteran and former WBA world champion (2005) who can’t be taken lightly even though he’s in the twilight of his career. He also has plenty of experience against top boxers such as Keith Thurman, Ricky Hatton, Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, Amir Khan and Shane Mosley. He lost unanimous decisions to Khan, Berto, Mosley and Hatton while he stopped Ortiz. He was stopped himself by Edwin Cassiani in 2002 and by Thurman in 2015.
Collazo owns a solid chin though as Thurman was the first man to stop him in 12 years. He can be an exciting fighter and is quite durable but he doesn’t have the power needed to stop elite boxers. He’s a good southpaw who likes to land the lead right hook whenever he gets the chance. He can’t afford to leave himself open when attacking though or he’ll be tattooed with a quick barrage of punches. Collazo has 282 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2000 and his knockout ratio currently stands at 43.5 per cent. He stands 5-feet-9-inches tall and has a 72-inch reach.
Abdukakhorov is just 26 years old and reportedly lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He enters the ring with a perfect record of 16-0 with 9 Ko’s. He’s just half an inch taller than Collazo at just over 5-feet-9-inches and unfortunately he has an unlisted reach. Abdukakhorov turned pro back in 2015 and has boxed 105 rounds since then. He’s not the heaviest of hitters either but has more power than Collazo with a current knockout ratio of 56.3 per cent, but has gone the distance in his last three fights.
Since turning pro following his amateur career. the native of Uzbekistan has won several regional and minor titles including the Uzbekistan, WPBF Youth World, WBF International, WBC Asian Boxing Council, and WBC Silver Welterweight Championships. Most fans won’t recognize many of his opponents, but Abdukakhorov has beaten the likes of Obara, Laszlo Toth, Sherzodbek Alimjanov, Dmitry Mikhaylenko, Charles Manyuchi and Adones Cabalquinto.
Prediction…
Collazo has been a solid pro throughout his career and has plenty of experience. At the age of 38 though I don’t know if he’ll have enough left in the tank to beat a young up-and-comer who’s 12 years his junior. I expect Collazo to give it everything he has like he usually does but I think he’ll fall short against Abdukakhorov.
