It was a night of boxing over the airway. At the USF Sundome in Tampa, FL, former champion and now No. 15 contender Luis Collazo, 36-7 (19), out of Queens, NY, surprised hard hitting Keith Thurman, 26-0 (21), of Clearwater, FL, the WBA welterweight champion by taking it to him from the third through the seventh rounds.

The pre-fight ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas made it seem like Thurman was the next coming of Thomas “Hitman” Hearns as far as the power in his punches. I think at the end of the fight he felt he had to say something to cover for Thurman’s performance to cover the high praise before the fight.

A pair of head butts cut Collazo over both eyes bringing about the stoppage. Only one hurt by a punch in the fight was Thurman due to a body shot. He said he lost 95% of the wind and considered taking a knee to get him through the fifth round. Instead of going to the scorecards the pro-Thurman crowd in Tampa and the referee Tellis Assimenios made it sure that wasn’t going to be risked though it seemed the FL judges had Thurman ahead. This writer had Collazo ahead by one point.

Over USA HBO Latino at the Sports Arena in L.A. Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera, 22-5 (7), out of Riverside, CA, finally got a break after a pair of controversial decision losses to Danny Garcia and Jose Benavidas. What seemed to be a very competitive fight through four even rounds was ended in the fifth round at 2:09 by referee Jack Reiss due to accidental head butts that only Herrera suffered cuts from which usually means his opponent may have caused them even if accidental in “Hammerin” Hank Lundy, 25-5-1 (12), of Philadelphia, PA, in a vacant super lightweight title fight.

As early as the first round Herrera suffered a cut right eye. Then in the second from another head butt caused a cut left eye.

When the scores were totaled including the fifth round both judges Eddie Hernandez and Fernando Villareal had it 48-47 for Herrera while judge Zac Young had it even at 48-48. How Young came up with the extra point is unknown. It’s odd Herrera is not rated in neither the WBC or IBF yet is No. 6 in the WBA and No. 3 in the WBO. His gaining the NABF title should put him into the WBC rankings while Lundy is there at No. 11 and may be getting dropped out again. He isn’t rated in the other three organizations.

Though Lundy talked about stopping Herrera later in the fight it was Herrera who won the fifth and last round and he did not want the fight stopped. Whether a re-match is being called for is doubtful when the one receiving the cuts comes out the winner.

Please send all questions and comments to Ken Hissner at: Kenhissner@gmail.com