In the main event on Thursday from the Horseshoe in Tunica, Mississippi, southpaw Sammy Vasquez (21-2, 15 KOs) looked to bounce back from his first defeat by facing Luis Collazo, (37-7, 20 KOs), himself coming off a layoff after his loss to Keith Thurman.
Vasquez established his jab and lateral movement from round 1, circling Collazo to avoid damage while potshotting from the perimeter. As Collazo barreled ahead in the second, Vasquez’s footwork and angles prevented much success. But when Collazo was able to suck Vasquez into more of a slugfest halfway through the third, a left-right combo as Collazo was pressed against the ropes sent Vasquez to the canvas. He beat the count and returned the favor in the fourth by stunning Collazo early with a left, then pressed the action only for Collazo to return vicious fire with his own combinations; the entire round was a barn burner, with each taking turns teeing off and Collazo smartly picking his power shots while pressed against the ropes.
After a tit-for-tat fifth, Collazo unleashed a beast of a right hand (set up by a left hook) that positively crumpled Vasquez. Though a count was administered, Vasquez’s clear nonresponse caused ref Bill Clancy to halt the fight at 1:27 of round 6.
