Collazo KOs Ortiz in round two; Gomez tops Arnett; Russell KOs Tamayo

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In front of 8,050 of his hometown fans at the Barclays Center, former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KOs) scored the most impressive victory of his career, destroying what was left of “Vicious†Victor Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KOs) with a picture perfect counter right hook to the chin in round two that caused the Mexican American to stagger towards the red corner where he would take a knee for a ten count. Ortiz came out aggressively in round one, attempting to impose his physical strength while landed a few body shots. Collazo’s defensive prowess was in display, as he made Ortiz miss but was unable to land anything of significance in return. Ortiz, fighting for the first time since breaking his jaw in a ninth round TKO loss to Josesito Lopez in June 2012, won the close round with his aggression.

 

The Brooklyn native settled down in round two, landing a few straight left hands while Ortiz circled. The sudden ending came as the fighters traded shots in close. While the two southpaws missed with straight left hands, Collazo landed a short right hook to the chin that caused Ortiz to turn and stagger towards the red corner with Collazo in hot pursuit. Luis was able to land two more glancing right hooks to the head, causing Ortiz to take a knee. Referee Benji Esteves called a halt to the bout at 2:59 of round two.

 

Unbeaten junior middleweight Eddie Gomez moved his record to 16-0 with 10 KO’s with a ten-round unanimous decision win against Daquan Arnett in the televised co-feature. In a fight between two evenly-matched, undefeated boxers, Gomez just wound up being the better fighter. The scorecards reflected that reality as the judges submitted wide scores of 98-91 and 97-92 (twice) for Gomez. A right hook to the head and a follow-up left hook to the body dropped Arnett in the seventh. Gomez tried mightily hard to finish off his opponent right after but Arnett weathered the follow-up barrages and even scored with some wide shots himself inside Gomez’s guard. Both men got into a dirty punch swapping contest in the eighth when the referee was slow to break a clinch but it was clear that the action from the round before had slowed both men. By the tenth and final round, the crowd was intermittently booing at the lack of action, although that was largely a result of the exhaustion of the fighters than it was a testament to their disinterest in engaging one another. The Florida-based Arnett is now 11-1 with seven wins via stoppage. “It was my first ten rounder,†Gomez said in the ring directly after the fight concluded. “Arnett was tough but I knew that going in there. I’m happy about the win.â€

 

130-pound prospect Gary Russell Jr. made easy work of Miguel Tamayo, dispatching his opponent via fourth round knockout in a scheduled eight-rounder in the first televised fight of the night. Russell (24-0, 14 KO’s) was clearly the quicker and better talented of the duo, although that didn’t stop the fans in attendance from booing as early as the first round. Russell outworked, outboxed and every other “out†you can imagine against Tamayo, a clearly overmatched fighter who had only one victory in his previous four outs. A right hook dropped Tamayo (14-8-2, 12 KO’s) in the fourth round. Tamayo looked clear headed but elected to remain down while watching the ringside physician wave to the referee to call an end to the affair. It was a rare ten count ending. Tamayo then gave a smile and a shrug before being placed on his stool. The official time of the stoppage was 1:04 of the fourth. Russell had won every round on all three judges’ scorecards at the time of the knockout.

 

2012 U.S. Olympian Marcus Browne continued to find success on the other side of the Verrazano Bridge, winning a lopsided six-round unanimous decision against overmatched Kentrell Claiborne. All three judges submitted identical shut-out scores of 60-54. Browne (9-0, 8 KO’s), a homegrown product from nearby Staten Island, was fighting a few pounds heavier than usual and it seemed to show in a more lethargic than usual performance. Browne rocked Claiborne with a series of right hooks in the first round but Claiborne (4-9, 3 KO’s) was able to absorb them without hitting the canvas. Claiborne did good work in the fourth as Browne appeared to tire. He even landed well with some straight rights. Browne regained control in the fifth, however, but by the sixth and final round he looked exhausted. Browne was only winging single shots and spent much of the round breathing through his mouth. Ultimately, the performance submitted by the charismatic Browne was sufficient to get the win but he will need to do more as his level of competition increases. Claiborne, meanwhile, has now lost his last three fights but his effort against Browne will likely earn him a similar opportunity in the future.

 

In a super lightweight bout, Zachary Ochoa improved to 6-0 (3) with a four round unanimous decision over Puerto Rico’s Jose Valderrama (3-7, 3 KOs). Working behind a stiff jab, the Brooklyn native hurt Valderrama in round one with a counter right hand. An unintentional head-butt cut Valderrama’s left eye in round two. Valderrama did his best work in close, where he was able to flurry. A right hand seemed to drop Ochoa in round three, but referee Eddie Claudio ruled it a slip. Ochoa won round four big, landing counter left hooks and right hands before getting out of harm’s way. All three judges scored the bout 40-36.