Fight Previews & Predictions: Khan vs. Collazo, Broner vs. Molina —
Marcos Maidana had a well-deserved reputation for being the strongest and hardest hitting guy around at 140 lbs, and the Argentine bull is well on his way to earning the same rep at 147 lbs. So, putting him in the ring with the sport’s Pound for Pound King and defensive grand master is enough in its own right to qualify as a top notch event.
As if that were not enough, Showtime’s fight night on Saturday, May 3rd has two more decent bouts on the undercard: Amir Khan vs. Luis Collazo and Adrien Broner vs. Carlos Molina. Since a true fight fan would want to see all three fights, a brief look at the undercard is in order.
Amir Khan vs. Luis Collazo Preview
A lot of people are writing off Luis Collazo, but doing so severely underrates him. Collazo might be bottom half of the Top 10 material, but that still makes him a legitimate contender. He is a tough, big guy for a welterweight, and a southpaw boxer-puncher. Anyone who discounts a man like that is a fool, and Khan sometimes fights foolish.
The open question in my mind is if Amir Khan is even fractionally focused on getting at Floyd Mayweather, because he needs to be 100% focused on Collazo and on a sound gameplan for defusing the Brooklyn-native’s strengths. Khan can defeat Collazo if he uses his mobility and handspeed to box and sharpshoot, in much the same way as he did against Carlos Molina (speak of the devil…). If the Briton lets himself get drawn into open warfare, Collazo has the power to dent Khan’s average chin and would get plenty of chances to do so.
Ultimately, this is Khan’s fight to lose. One would think that might suggest he would screw his head on and not blow it, but if Khan simply always did that he would be fighting Mayweather in the main event instead of Maidana.
Adrien Broner vs. Carlos Molina Preview
This is “The Problem’s” comeback fight, and unlike Khan, I doubt Broner has any serious potential hiccups in this match. Molina is a good fighter, and when his eye was cut in the 1st Round against Khan it played a role in his defeat. Yet the truth is that he had no answers for Khan’s speed, power, and measured aggression. I therefore doubt very much he will come up with any against Broner, who is anything is slicker than Khan. Broner’s people were very smart in making their choice of an opponent for his first post-Maidana-ass-whipping fight.
