11.02.07 – By Jeff Bastasini: Shane Mosley (44-4, 37 KOs) had few problems tonight in winning a 12-round decision over Luis Collazo (26-3, 12 KO’s) to win the WBC interim welterweight title at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was supposed to be youth of Collazo, 25, vs. the advanced age of Mosley, now 35, but it turned out that Mosley was not only the faster fighter, but also the much harder puncher of the two, surprizing many. Just as in his bout with Hatton, Collazo was able to land well on occasion, however, his selective, counter-punching style was no match for Mosley’s constant attacks.
Collazo, for the most part, was limited in the shots that he landed, throwing few combinations during the course of the bout. He did, however, throw a lot of jabs, perhaps hoping to mimic the success he had with Hatton where he was able to catch him often as he was coming in.
Mosley, though, merely ducked under many of the jabs, quickly getting inside where he ripped three punch combinations to Collazo’s body and head. It seemed as if Collazo adopted the strategy of holding back with his punches in the first half of the fight, seeming to hope that Mosley would tire out in the later rounds due to his age.
If that was Collazo’s plan, it failed miserably. Mosley simply piled up the points in the early rounds, while wearing Collazo down with huge shots.
By the mid fight, Collazo attempted to become more offensive minded, but he found only limited success. More often than not, when Collazo came forward, he was met with Mosley now turning into the counter puncher and landing hard shots that appeared to make Collazo back off, turning back into a defensive fighter to avoid the punishment he was receiving. As the rounds progressed, the fight become even more one-sided with Mosley totally dominating Collazo, who looked frustrated and tired, seeming not to know what to do. In the 11th round, Mosley knocked Collazo down with a huge shot. However, Collazo got up and was able to finish the round without going down again.
The final judges’ scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 119-108 for Mosley.