Collazo stops Ortiz in 2nd round

NEW YORK (AP) -- As soon as Luis Collazo threw the vicious right hook, he had a sense of the

outcome.

Collazo was proven correct as his final punch knocked out Victor Ortiz at 2:59 of the second round in a welterweight fight at the Barclays Center on Thursday night.

''It was the shortest hook I ever threw,'' Collazo said. ''It was awesome. I knew he was going to come in wide and I tried to beat his hook with my hook and that's exactly what happened.''

Nicknamed ''The People's Champ'' for being from the Williamsburg section of the borough, Collazo (35-5) delighted his hometown crowd by catching Ortiz (29-5-2) with a right hook across the face. That sent Ortiz sprawling to the ground near Collazo's corner and when he was unable to get up, he was counted out.

Collazo recorded his 18th career knockout and the former WBA welterweight champion recorded his first knockout before the third round in nearly nine years.

After finishing off Ortiz, he made it clear whom he wants next and where he wants it to happen.

''I want Floyd Mayweather, in New York City, I want what the fans want!'' Collazo said in an in-ring interview. ''I want him to come to the Barclays Center here in Brooklyn.''

Collazo, however, is more likely to fight fellow welterweights Keith Thurman and Marcos Madana, Adrien Broner and Amir Khan.

''It opens the door,'' Collazo said ''Like I said before, the fight here was my future and now it's going to open up my future.

The quick ending spoiled Ortiz's bid from two setbacks that derailed his promising ascent up the welterweight chain. According to Collazo, Ortiz also seemed to overlook this fight and said that he would retire after losing.

''Absolutely (he overlooked me),'' Collazo said. ''(I got his attention) when I landed that hook and he didn't get up. ''I'm just a competitive person. I don't like losing and I took care of business.''

''Between me and him, he told me he was going to retire after this. Let's see if he keeps his word. Let's see what happens.''

Ortiz, who turns 27 Friday, was the welterweight champion following a unanimous decision over Andre Berto on April 16, 2011.

In his first title defense, he was knocked out in the fourth round by Mayweather five months later and then broke his jaw in gruesome fashion during the ninth round against Josesito Lopez on June 23, 2012, in Los Angeles.

Besides training in the last 19-month absence, Ortiz made appearances on ABC's ''Dancing With the Stars'' and spent time in Bulgaria filming a part in the movie ''Expendables Three''

''I'm good. I got caught, it's no big deal,'' Ortiz said. ''It happens. I'm just one of the fighters and I put my heart out there.''

In the co-main event, super welterweight Eddie Gomez (16-0) won a unanimous decision over Daquan Arnett (11-1) in a 10-round fight, taking the bout with scores of 98-91, 97-92 and 97-92.

The Bronx native briefly dropped Arnett in the seventh round with a hard right hook to the face, but despite a flurry of punches in the final minute of the round he was unable to produce his 11th career knockout.

In the first televised fight on the card, super featherweight Gary Russell Jr. (24-0) recorded his 14th career knockout when he stopped Miguel Tamayo 1:04 into the fourth round. Russell finished the fight by forcing Tamayo into a corner and the fight ended after he landed three consecutive hard right hooks.

Promoters said 8,050 attended the fight. The crowd included Brooklyn Nets' Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and Andray Blatche along with current WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia also in attendance.