Luis Collazo: 'I had no doubt in my mind I would beat Victor Ortiz'

Brooklyn's own Luis Collazo was emotional on his walk to the ring, and six minutes after the opening bell, he'd knocked out Victor Ortiz at the Barclays Center to get his 2014 kicked off with the biggest win of his nearly 14-year pro career.

"I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to win," said Collazo (35-5, 17 KO). "I went through hard times and maybe I wasn't ready before, but I was ready today."

Collazo had come close to big wins in 2006 against Ricky Hatton and 2009 against Andre Berto, but fell just short each time. This time, he left no room for doubt, catching Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KO) with a right hook that ended the fight when Ortiz didn't respond to the referee's 10-count, sitting on his knees as the second round neared its end.

"When I was in the locker room, the joy, happiness and excitement hit me that I have the opportunity to perform in Brooklyn in front of my fans and the people I grew up with here," said Collazo. "I knew Ortiz was going to come out and be aggressive and I had to stay focused and stick to the game plan. People say that I can't punch, but I guess they're wrong."

After the fight, Collazo, 32, took the chance to call out Floyd Mayweather for a fight in New York. As unlikely as that is, there's basically no reason Collazo shouldn't attach his name to Mayweather if it makes for a couple extra headlines.

More realistically, Golden Boy has a lot of welterweights available, and now Collazo is in that mix. Perhaps this win makes him No. 1 contender to Paulie Malignaggi's King of Brooklyn title. Maybe Zab Judah's an option. Maybe Keith Thurman. The possibilities are (not in any way) endless!