Luis Collazo could be next for Terence Crawford

Terence Crawford needs an opponent for his next fight.

Errol Spence Jr? Obviously not happening. Another top PBC welterweight? Obviously not happening. Look, to be fair, all those guys — Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia — are busy with fights coming in the first part of 2019.

So what about Egidijus Kavaliauskas, the former Olympian, promoted, like Crawford, by Top Rank? He just won an eliminator for Crawford’s belt. So, OK, that’s not the fight a lot of people want, but at least it would make sense.

Apparently not. Apparently, Luis Collazo is looking likely to be Crawford’s next foe, possibly on March 23 in New York.

Collazo (38-7, 20 KO) is a 37-year-old veteran southpaw out of New York, and most likely if you’re reading this, you’re familiar with his career. He’s been in the mix at 147 pounds for over a decade now. He first gained major headlines when he faced — and controversially lost to — Ricky Hatton in 2006.

Along the way, Collazo has lost his bigger fights. Shane Mosley beat him in 2007, Andre Berto beat him in 2009, Amir Khan beat him in 2014, Keith Thurman beat him in 2015. He’s a good boxer, but past his prime and his prime never quite got him to that top level, anyway, at least not as more than an opponent who went on to lose.

Right now, Collazo is on a two-fight win streak, and both were solid wins, over Sammy Vasquez and Bryant Perrella. But to say he’d be a disappointment as an opponent for Crawford (34-0, 25 KO), a titleholder and top pound-for-pound contender, would be an understatement. But that’s the life at Top Rank right now — they just don’t really have anybody in-house for Crawford to face, and the chances of making a big fight with a PBC opponent are nonexistent at the moment.

So it is what it is, I guess. I’d be more upset, but it’s not actually surprising.