Collazo-Aydin a no-go

By Mariano A. Agmi Luis Collazo’s manager and trainer Nirmal Lorick contacted ********* on Wednesday with an exclusive update regarding a scheduled June 5 bout between WBC #2 ranked Luis Collazo (30-4, 15 KOs) and #3 ranked Selcuk Aydin (19-0, 15 KOs). “The fight was supposed to take place last year after the WBC let Andre Berto defend his title against Juan Urango,” stated Lorick. “We spent months waiting around for the Berto rematch while the purse bid kept getting rescheduled. While the WBC allowed Berto to fight Carlos Quintana, we were ordered to participate in a purse bid for a Silver version of the title against Selcuk Aydin.” The Germany-based Arena Box Promotion, who promotes Aydin, won the rights to promote the welterweight interim title bout on March 5, 2010, outbidding Don King ($210,000 to $201,000). The fighters were to split the purse evenly and fight in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 5. “At this point, we’ve outgrown the welterweight division,” laments Lorick. “We waited for the promoters to come to terms for a bout and Don King and Arena couldn’t seal the deal. Then lost the purse bid. We’ve been inactive since June of last year, and Luis has outgrown the division. Inactivity hurt us and we are not going to sacrifice Luis’ health to boil down to 147.” From Lorick’s perspective, all the chips are stacked against his fighter. “Not only can we not make the weight, but the fight is supposed to be in Turkey, his opponent’s backyard. Luis already proved himself to the world. He never really lost a fight and he always put on great performances on HBO. Aydin doesn’t belong in the same ring as Luis and there is no reason why we should have to starve ourselves down to 147 to fight an unknown guy in his hometown.” After a career fought mostly at welterweight, Lorick and Collazo have their minds on bigger game at 154: “Unless there is a tremendous payday at 147, we would like to test the waters at jr. middleweight,” concludes Lorick. “We’ll fight anyone who thinks he’s the best: the Williams-Cintron winner, the Cotto-Foreman winner, Alfredo Angulo, Sergio Martinez, anyone. We asked Don about a fight against Cory Spinks, whom he also promotes, and he said he couldn’t get it done because of a mandatory. It seems like Luis has ‘Winky Wright syndrome’ – nobody wants to fight him.” To be continued… http://www.fight news.com/?p=43566 take the space out for correct url.