By Jake Donovan
Keith Thurman's long awaited homecoming finally has a confirmed location. The unbeaten welterweight will face Luis Collazo on July 11 at USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida.
The 12-round welterweight title fight headlines the first installment of Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN. Also on the show, unbeaten junior middleweight prospect Tony Harrison faces Willie Nelson in a scheduled 10-round bout.
Thurman (25-0, 21KOs) also starred in the very first PBC episode to hit airwaves, scoring a decisive 12-round decision over Robert Guerrero in Las Vegas this past March. The welterweight scrap aired in prime time on NBC, drawing more than 4 million viewers and remaining the most viewed cable and broadcast fight of 2015.
In heading home to Tampa, Thurman—who hails from nearby Clearwater and trains in the Tampa/St. Peterburg region—fights in the area for the first time in nearly six years. Nine of his first 12 career bouts took place in Tampa, but hasn't played his hometown since an 8-round decision over Edvan dos Santos in Nov. '09, his first career bout to go to the scorecards.
Collazo (36-6, 19KOs) resurrected his career with a stunning 2nd round knockout of Victor Ortiz in their battle of former welterweight titlists last January. The native New Yorker parlayed the win into a lucrative showdown with Amir Khan, landing as the chief support to Floyd Mayweather's first win over Marcos Maidana last May.
The bout gained plenty of exposrue due to its placement, but knocked Collazo back a few rungs as he dropped a landslide decision. The 34-year old has since returned to the win column, scoring a rust-shaking 2nd round knockout in his most recent ring appearance this past April in Brooklyn, New York.
Thurman comes into the bout as a fully recognized welterweight titlist. The 26-year old held an interim version of the belt, which—in theory—should have resulted in a mandatory shot at Mayweather. Instead, he received an upgrade from interim to recognized champ after Mayweather officially vacated the belt.
The ESPN-televised bout will air live in primetime, which will be the case for all future editions of PBC on ESPN as per the terms of a two-year pact between the two entities.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
