Keith Thurman came home. Luis Collazo came hard. The end came too quickly. At least for Collazo.
Thurman vs Collazo, Harrison vs Nelson highlights: July 11, 2015
The story of Thurman’s clash with Collazo at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday night is less told in words than the sight of Collazo’s grotesquely swollen right eye, which looked as if it had been inflated with air in his locker room afterward.
The damage done to Collazo’s eye enabled Thurman to power his way to a bloody victory by technical knockout in his first homecoming fight in more than five years.
Keith Thurman hammers Luis Collazo with a left hand during his victory in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday night. (Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions)
The story of Thurman’s clash with Collazo at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday night is less told in words than the sight of Collazo’s grotesquely swollen right eye, which looked as if it had been inflated with air in his locker room afterward.
The damage done to Collazo’s eye enabled Thurman to power his way to a bloody victory by technical knockout in his first homecoming fight in more than five years.
“He’s the kind of fighter who’s like, ‘You want to punish me, punish me. I’m here. I’ll be in your face,” Thurman said afterward. “I broke him down, though. Slowly.”
Thurman dictated the pace early as Collazo measured his opponent, throwing little until Round 3, when Collazo began to come forward in an attempt to jump-start his offense.
While Collazo got some crisp blows in, he took more punishment than he was able to dish out, eating a buffet of punches.
Collazo continued to press the action in Round 4, getting Thurman on the ropes, only to get hammered by lighting-quick combos from Thurman. But in Round 5, Collazo swung the momentum in his direction when he landed a vicious left hand to the ribs that buckled Thurman’s knees and almost resulted in a knockdown.
“It was amazing,” Collazo said. “It was a flush liver shot.”
From there, Collazo fired wildly at Thurman, who clinched at one point to weather the charge, as Collazo began to have his biggest success fighting on the inside.
“The game plan was to box him, but I noticed that getting inside was a little better for me,” Collazo said. “Inside, I knew he was weak. I tried to capitalize with that body shot.”
That momentum would be stopped cold, though, when Thurman opened a cut above Collazo’s right eye that bled profusely.
After Round 7, Collazo’s corner threw in the towel due to the vision-impairing injury.
“I couldn’t see,” Collazo said. “With my eye, I was getting hit with dumb shots, and I didn’t want to accumulate dumb shots. I want to fight again.”
Luis Collazo put up a good fight against Keith Thurman, but the cut above his right eye shortened his night. (Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions)
Thurman was up on all three judges’ scorecards at the time of stoppage (69-64 twice, 68-65). Afterward, Thurman’s assessment of his performance was succinct.
“Nice boxing, nice defense, good power throughout the fight,” he said. “I had to face adversity and I stood up to it like a true champion does. We kept boxing smart. I kept listening to my corner. I wanted to lay him out, but he took some good punches. We knew Luis Collazo was a durable fighter.”
The mood in Thurman’s locker room, filled with family members, was jovial—and not just because of Thurman’s victory. On Sunday, his father is getting married.
“I’ll be getting some good rest tonight and then throwing on a suit,” Thurman said. “We’ve got a lot to celebrate this weekend.”
