I asked Luis Collazo what he saw in the eyes of the man he will be fighting Saturday night, at the MGM in Las Vegas on the Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana undercard.
Did he see fear in Amir Khan's eyes? A window to his soul? Something in the body language to indicate that he was in the head of the Brit who is making his debut at 147 pounds?
"I don't know," said the 33-year-old Brooklyn native. "I'm at peace, Mike. I'm blessed, I'm ready for this opportunity and ready to go."
In other words, he doesn't really care what Khan is feeling or thinking, he knows in his heart he is in the right place. But I pressed. "He looked like he's trying to intimidate me," Collazo said, "but I'm from New York, there's nothing intimidating to me."
The boxer, a crafty lefty with more than enough pop to drop you if you don't see one coming -- or maybe, some figure, even if you do; Khan (28-3, two of three losses via KO) has something of an iffy chin -- gave me a tidbit of insight into his MO when I asked what he'd do the rest of this Thursday. Have a light workout, he said, and then, "Watch some 'Tom and Jerry.'"
Doesn't matter the episode, Collazo chills and gets his game face that much readier by watching a cat and mouse messing with each other before big bouts.
What about messing with Khan, what with the stakes so high, what with Khan being the favorite to get Mayweather next, in September?
Collazo (35-5, 18 KOs), who holds the WBA International welterweight title, offered this summation via a prediction: "Victorious. One to 100, 100 being most sure of myself, I'm at 110. Can you put that in?"
Damn straight. Now all that's left is waiting, to see which one is Tom Cat, and who plays Jerry Mouse.
