Keith Thurman vs. Luis Collazo
When ESPN2's Friday Night Fights ended its 17-year run in May many fans were upset. For years the program had brought fans well matched bouts and featured a slew of rising prospects trying to make their name, and fading veterans trying to prove they had something left. Now the void left behind by Friday Night Fights will be filled. Instead of airing a lower level fight card every week on ESPN2 now there will be a higher profile card on regular ESPN every month. The first of these fight cards which airs Saturday will be a 12-round bout between Keith Thurman and Luis Collazo for Thurman's WBA "regular" welterweight title.
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| Thurman looks like he is on his way to stardom |
Thurman is already starting to talk like he is the next superstar in boxing, and he may be right. Thurman, who goes by the nickname "One Time" because of his power is an orthodox fighter with a high ring IQ. "One Time" has a nice up and down jab and he also throws a quick left hook. While the left hook is a dangerous weapon, Thurman's biggest punch may be his right hand and he throws it in a myriad of ways, including as an uppercut or straight right. Another impressive aspect of Thurman's game is his patience. Thurman is the type of fighter who takes what his opponent gives him and he has the ability to score a knockout or box beautifully for 12 rounds. The only real question remaining is defense. Thurman does get touched up from time to time and as he continues to rise in the ranks he will need to tighten that defense up, even if he is a fighter whose offense is his defense.
Thurman is still a young man at only 26 years old and his career to date has been a perfect one. Thurman started to make his name by beating tough sluggers like Diego Chaves and Jesus Soto Karass but has also disappointed fans by taking on unknown fighters like Leonard Bundu in recent years. This will be Thurman's second appearance on a PBC card and his first appearance was a memorable one against Robert Guerrero. Guerrero gave Thurman some problems late but Thurman controlled the fight and moved his perfect record to 25-0 with a very impressive 21 knockouts. Thurman had become known as such a brutal puncher that fans actually seem annoyed when he fails to finish his opponent before the final bell, something he may look to do against Collazo.
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| Collazo got beat up in his last big fight |
Collazo is a very different fighter than Thurman is. For one, Collazo is a southpaw and he doesn't carry much power in either hand. Collazo fights with a defense first style that seems him try to frustrate and counter punch his opponents. Collazo is one of those defensive fighters who likes to use the shoulder roll, and he usually uses it well. Along with that shoulder roll Collazo also has very good footwork and he keeps opponents off of him with his excellent jab. With that jab Collazo also has a quick right hook and he does bang to the body well despite not having big knockout power.
When it comes to experience Collazo has a big advantage over Thurman. Collazo at 34 years old has been fighting professionally since 2000 and has faced a slew of top fighter including Ricky Hatton and Shane Mosley. Collazo had somewhat of a career resurgence in 2014 when he knocked out Victor Ortiz but followed that up by being dominated by Amir Khan that same year. Despite some big losses Collazo has put together a nice career and has a record of 36-6 with 19 knockouts.
This fight may be a tough one for Collazo to put his stamp on. Collazo likes to let his opponent lead while he focuses on defense and counter punching to win rounds. The problem is that Thurman isn't an ultra aggressive power puncher. He will take his time and break an opponent down and he has plenty of boxing skills himself. Collazo tried to be more aggressive against Khan and he got beat up so he will really need to be elite defensively on this bout. For Thurman all he needs to be is be himself but if he wants to make a big statement on ESPN he could look for the early knockout against a fighter whose only career knockout loss came all the way back in 2002.
PREDICTION: Keith Thurman is going to win this fight. The only question is how he will do it. Luis Collazo was dropped three times by Amir Khan but still made it to the final bell, that will be harder to do against Thurman who is a heavier hitter than Khan. Thurman will hurt Collazo late in this fight and he will get the 10th round stoppage victory.
Tony Harrison vs. Willie Nelson
Saturday's co-feature on ESPN will be an exciting one between two prospects who seems to be heading in different directions. Tony Harrison, who appeared many times on Friday Night Fights is one of the hottest prospects in the sport in part because of his punching power and big personality. Willie Nelson was once a hot prospect whose star has faded in recent years. The two prizefighters are scheduled to go 10 rounds in the junior middleweight division in what should be a very good fight.
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| Harrison always represents Detroit well |
Harrison is a 24-yeard-old orthodox fighter with a ton of pop on his punches. He is a long lanky fighter and he has a thudding jab to go along with a strong straight right hand. Along with those punches Harrison also has a devastating left hook and he throws uppercuts very well on the inside. Offensively there isn't much that Harrison doesn't do well but his defense is still a question mark. At such a young age with star potential Harrison has yet to be truly tested and every fighter who was supposed to give him a slight test he has dominated. While Nelson may not be a high level test for Harrison it is still a fairly evenly matched fight.
While his career is just really getting started Harrison has already been impressive. His record is a perfect 21-0 with a ridiculous 18 knockouts and while he hasn't yet faced any elite fighters he has easily handled every fighter put in his way. One reason Harrison went from relatively unknown to hot prospect is because of his power and he has a 10-fight knockout streak going into Saturday night.
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| Nelson's status as a hot prospect has taken a hit |
At 6'3'' Nelson is a tall junior middleweight who fights out of the orthodox stance. However, it needs to be said that Nelson should be punished for not using the nickname Willie "Whiskey River" Nelson, but lets get back to his efforts in the ring. Nelson does have a nice long jab and that is the punch he uses most often. Along with that jab Nelson has a pretty solid straight right hand and while he also possesses a quick left hook that is a punch he doesn't use enough. One problem for Nelson has been defense. He doesn't always use his height as well as he should and he doesn't take a punch very well, perhaps because of his toothpick legs.
At one time Nelson was looked at as a legitimate prospect. However, he does have two losses on his resume and looked bad in his last fight when he took on Vanes Martirosyan and lost. The problem with Nelson is the fact that he does everything fairly well but he doesn't do anything great. His record as it stands now is 23-2-1 but he only has 13 knockouts to his name, so it is doubtful that he will test the chin of Harrison.
This should be a solid fight between two hungry prospects. Nelson may be looking to prove that he is good enough to get to contender status while Harrison seems to be ready to knock that door down. Harrison should come into this fight with the slight edge due to his excellent power punching which is something Nelson sorely lacks. Whichever way this fights plays out it will do one thing, tell fans a lot about both fighters.
PREDICTION: Tony Harrison has record 10 knockouts in a row and Willie Nelson will make 11. Nelson has never been knocked out but he doesn't take a punch very well and Harrison will take advantage of that and win this fight by the way of 6th round stoppage.
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