Life-sized adult males will hit the ring tonight as PBC Boxing brings a show with only welterweighs and heavyweights to FS1 tonight at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Miss.
In the main event on Premier Boxing Champions, we’ll see Sammy Vasquez Jr. (21-1, 15 KOs) takes on Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) at 147 pounds.
In the primary undercard we’ll see Yordenis Ugas (17-3, 8 KOs) take on Levan Ghvamichava (17-2-1, 13 KOs).
With a three-hour block, we’ll probably get at least three fights.
As always, scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for the press release from the PBC.
Vasquez, Collazo geared up for career-defining 147-pound battle. PBC
What happens when two skilled boxers at opposite points in their careers meet in a fight that neither believes he can afford to lose? We’re about to find out.
Sammy Vasquez Jr. (21-1, 15 KOs) and former 147-pound world champion Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) are each looking to get back on track following bloody defeats. But only one of them will be able do so, as they square off against each other Thursday at Horseshoe Tunica Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.
The 10-round clash of southpaws highlights a three-hour telecast on Fox Sports 1 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT). Both fighters made weight Wednesday, with Vasquez checking in at 146.2 pounds and Collazo hitting the scale at 145½ pounds.
While Vasquez is coming off the first defeat of his career—a 10-round unanimous decision to 2008 Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz in July—Collazo is looking to bounce back from a seventh-round stoppage loss to 147-pound champion Keith Thurman in July 2015.
In other words, both fighters are feeling a strong sense of urgency.
Collazo is not only coming off an 18-month layoff—the second longest of his career—but he’s dropped two of his last three fights.
In addition to the loss to Thurman, in which a gash over his right eye hampered his vision and led his corner to throw in the towel, the veteran from Brooklyn, New York, also fell to ex-champion Amir Khan by unanimous decision in May 2014.
Despite his recent struggles, Collazo says he’ll enter the fight against Vasquez with plenty of confidence.
Vasquez and Collazo were originally set to meet July 16, but Collazo was forced to withdraw because of a severe calf injury that took months to heal. Diaz was then called upon as a late replacement, and the left-handed Dominican battered the unbeaten Vasquez on his way to a points victory that was much narrower than many believed it should’ve been.
After initially training to face an opponent of similar height—the 5-foot-10 Vasquez stands an inch taller than Collazo—the Monessen, Pennsylvania, native had to shift gears and prepare for the 5-foot-5 Diaz.
One of the punches Collazo likely will try to counter with is the right hook, which he used to score a second-round knockout of former titleholder and fellow lefty Victor Ortiz in January 2014.
Vasquez has little doubt that his opponent will rely on the same punch that finished Ortiz. He also has little doubt he’ll find a way to avoid it.
Collazo, of course, has his own goal.
The fight is on FS1 at 8 p.m. Watch it with me.
