Luis Collazo to co-feature against Kudratillo Abdukakhorov on Gvozdyk-Beterbiev card, Oct. 18

Multiple sources have confirmed to ESPN that 38-year-old former welterweight titleholder Luis Collazo (39-7, 20 KOs) has just been scheduled to take on Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (16-0, 9 KOs) as the co-featured bout for the Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs Artur Beterbiev light heavyweight unification card set for October 18. The card will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Collazo was originally planned to take on Jose Benavidez Jr. last month but Benavidez had to be pulled from the fight with a reported leg injury and wouldn’t be available in time to make this Oct. 18th card.

So in steps Abdukakhorov, 26, who enters this fight coming off a unanimous decision win over Keita Obara in late March in a title eliminator which pushed him closer towards a shot at Errol Spence’s IBF title.

But at this point it’s a little difficult to know how much Collazo has left to offer. The experienced veteran was written off many years back but has managed to keep himself in the mix, particularly with timely wins over Victor Ortiz and Sammy Vasquez during the last 5 yeras. Of course Collazo typically loses whenever he steps up a level higher to take on folks like Amir Khan, Keith Thurman, Shane Mosely, Ricky Hatton, etc., but he’s currently riding a three-fight win streak over the past two years.

If Collazo hopes to make one last run at a world title, he’ll have to come up big here once again.