Collazo battles it out in the trenches with Sammy Vargas. Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Luis Collazo isn’t ready to hang up the gloves just yet.
Collazo, the former world welterweight titleholder, will face fringe contender Angel Ruiz Wednesday night at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida. The 10-round bout will headline a three-bout card that will stream live on ProBox TV app or their YouTube page (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).
“It’s a really fun card this Wednesday,” ProBox TV executive Chris Glover told The Ring Monday. “Luis Collazo still wants to go on one more run, so it’s a must-win for him. Angel Ruiz knows a win against Collazo puts him right back in the mix for a big fight, so there’s a lot on the line for that one.
“The televised portion of the event is three action, good quality fights. It’s a great midweekly fix for the boxing fan.”
Collazo (39-8, 20 knockouts), who is originally from Brooklyn, New York and now resides in Riverview, Florida, has not fought since a No Decision against unbeaten Eimantas Stanionis in August 2021. His fight before that took place in October 2019, losing by technical decision to welterweight contender Kudratillo Abdukakhorov.
The 41-year-old won the WBA world welterweight title in April 2005, defeating Jose Antonio Rivera by split decision. Collazo made one successful defense, stopping Miguel Angel Gonzalez, before losing the world title to Ricky Hatton in May 2006, in a fight many thought Collazo did enough to win.
Collazo has faced the likes of Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, Amir Khan, and Keith Thurman, all of whom are former world titleholders.
Ruiz (17-2-1, 12 KOs), who is originally from the boxing hotbed of Culiacan, Mexico and now resides in Los Angeles, fought to a split-decision draw against Jesus Pina Najera in his last fight on June 24. In his previous fight in October 2021, Ruiz lost by unanimous decision to unbeaten welterweight Giovani Santillan.
The 25-year-old southpaw has one victory in his last four bouts.
In the co-feature, Vadim Musaev will square off against Martin Alvarez in a six-round welterweight bout.
Musaev (5-0, 2 KOs), who is originally from Pervomayskiy, Russia and now resides in Hollywood, Florida, stopped former prospect Enver Halili in the opening round of his last bout on September 9.
Alvarez (7-0, 6 KOs) last fought on November 13, defeating Jhovany Armenta Inzunza by split-decision. Alvarez, who resides in Los Mochis, Mexico, has not faced a fighter with a winning record.
In the opening bout of the ProBox TV stream, unbeaten junior lightweights Prince Dzani (23-0, 19 KOs) of Accra, Ghana and Tijuana’s Jose Salas will square off in a 10-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]
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