Veteran Mosley clubs Collazo to claim welterweight bout

LAS VEGAS – Shane Mosley wants to fight until he’s 40. The way he looked Saturday night against Luis Collazo, he might consider extending his career longer.

Fighting a tough southpaw 10 years his junior, Mosley was both faster and stronger as he punched his way to a unanimous 12-round decision in a welterweight fight that was entertaining from the opening bell.

The 35-year-old knocked Collazo down in the 11th round and used his superior speed against a fighter who didn’t have nearly his experience but was game and still punching with everything he had when the fight ended.

“I knew I was faster than him and could hit him with the quick jabs,” Mosley said. “By the third round, I knew I would be able to hit him with different shots.”

Mosley knocked Collazo down with a short right hand late in the 11th round, but Collazo got up at the count of four and the bell rang before action continued. It was the only knockdown of the fight, though both fighters landed some big shots.

Two judges had Mosley winning 118-109, while the third had it 119-108. The Associated Press had Mosley winning 117-110.

Collazo said he hurt his left hand in training and again in the third round, and wasn’t able to use it effectively.

“I wish I could have been more effective,” he said. “But that was the best I could do.”

Mosley, coming off of two wins over Fernando Vargas that seemed to re-energize his career, was a 3-1 favorite against the heavily tattooed Collazo, who held a piece of the welterweight title before losing it last May to Ricky Hatton.

Mosley moved down in weight to 147 after spending much of the last five years fighting at 154.

“It feels good to be a welterweight again,” Mosley said.

The win could make Mosley a welterweight champion again because the WBC billed it as an eliminator to the title held by Floyd Mayweather Jr. When Mayweather vacates the title to fight Oscar De La Hoya on May 5, it will revert to Mosley.