It's Like Tofurky On Thanksgiving

So Luis Collazo isn’t Shane Mosley. Andre Berto knows this, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, he will try to look on the bright side, and concentrate on the fact that Collazo is quite likely the toughest test and biggest name he’s taken on since turning pro in 2004.

Instead of Mosley on Jan. 24, the WBC welterweight champion Berto (23-0, 19 KOs) will instead tangle with the New Yorker Collazo (29-3, 14 KOs), on Jan. 17.

It’s something like being promised a turkey feast prepared by Emeril Lagasse, and being tossed a TV dinner, made with Tofurky instead.

No offense, Colazzo…

No location has been chosen, though New York is the front-runner.

The Floridian told TSS he is a bit let down that he won’t get a chance to engage in his signature fight, with  Mosley, who will in fact be taking on WBA 147 pound champ Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas. Berto thought he had Mosley locked up, and Mosley too thought he’d be testing his mettle against the young gun. But the 37-year-old Mosley will be checking to see how much he’s got left in the tank against a “middle aged gun,” The Real Life Terminator Margarito. Berto talked to TSS about the flipped script, and his disappointment.

“I really wanted the top guys,” he said. “Collazo is going to be tough, OK, but…But after that I’m still going to be in the same boat. I need that defining fight to enter the mix with the guys like Mosley, and Margarito.”

A cynic might say that Berto may have been played, like a card, in a high stakes negotiation poker session. Does he feel that way? “That’s what it seems like,” Berto allowed. “Maybe somebody used me to pull Margarito back in.”

Berto tossed a little dig at Mosley, who he said set up roadblocks in making a match with Berto. Mosley wanted the fight at 150 pounds, with 10 ounce gloves, and a 65-35 split,  Berto said, and that leads the younger hitter to feel like he’s being avoided. “These guys get arrogant sometimes, they don’t want to let the young guys come in,” he said.

Berto said he won’t let political tomfoolery get him down, though. “The opportunity to fight Mosley, I wanted it,” he said. “But I have to be ready for Collazo, he’s a southpaw and he’s slick. It’s a step up, definitely a tough fight. I haven’t seen too many of his fights, I did see him with Mosley (in 2007, UD12 loss) and Hatton (in 2006, UD12 disputed loss). I can’t get upset with the politics. From Shane’s perspective, he’s older, he didn’t want to fight the young, tough guy, he wants to get paid. This is definitely not going to bring me down. I have to move though Colazzo, and take it out on him on January 17.”