By Rick Reeno
Nirmal Lorick, the longtime trainer of former champion Luis Collazo (35-5, 18KOs), tells BoxingScene.com that his fighter is ready, willing, and able to face Amir Khan (28-3, 19KOs) as soon as possible.
Khan, inactive since last April's tough win over Julio Diaz, was a frontrunner to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 3rd. Last week, Mayweather passed him over and selected Marcos Maidana as the pay-per-view opponent.
Collazo is coming off a very hot win. In January, Collazo did the unexpected by pulling off a one-punch first round knockout of former champion Victor Ortiz at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Khan wants a "credible opponent" at welterweight, and Lorick says Collazo is ready to provide his services.
"We'll go in there and do to him what we did to Victor Ortiz," Lorick told BoxingScene.com.
"One of the best welterweights is Louie. We are ready to fight right now. If Khan is ready, we're ready. All Khan has to do is step up to the plate. Louie has been one of the best welterweights in the world for the last ten years, so what better fight can he have."
"He wants to get [to Mayweather], this is the kind of fight he needs to have. And we'll go out there and give him the same kind of treatment [we gave Ortiz]. We're not going to go out there just to get a bad decision. When Louie knocked out Ortiz, 8,000 fans came out to Barclays on a Thursday night. He can come to Barclays or we'll fight him anywhere he wants."
The name of Keith Thurman has been floated around as a possible next opponent for Collazo. If the money is right, Lorick and Collazo would be open to the fight, but Khan is currently on their radar.
"He's been floated around [as a possible opponent], but Keith Thurman is on the way up and Louie is already there. If there is value in the money, then sure we'll do it. But Khan has been talking a lot about wanting a top guy and Louie is a top four guy," Lorick said.