Luis Collazo celebrates 33rd birthday, focuses on Amir Khan, and supports the NephCure Foundation.

Luis Collazo celebrates his 33rd birthday with members of his team and a group of reporters at a restaurant in Times Square on Tuesday, April 22nd.  Photo: Courtesy of the NephCure Foundation. 

Luis Collazo celebrates his 33rd birthday in intimate lunch with reporters as he readies for the most important fight of his career.

New York, NY (April 22, 2014) - In an intimate dinner at Buca Di Beppo restaurant in the heart of Times Square, a group of boxing reporters joined former welterweight champion Luis Collazo for a conversation about his upcoming fight with Amir Khan, May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  

Collazo looked and sounded relaxed, focused, and mentally ready for this new challenge. The Khan fight emerged as a result of his impressive win over former champion Victor Ortiz late January at the Barclays Center in New York City. 

The win over Ortiz put him back on the map with the world’s boxing elite. A win over Khan would catapult him into the small circle of new potential rivals lined up to fight boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Floyd “Money” Mayweather.

Despite such a huge potential opportunity peering at him in the horizon, Collazo looked completely calm and at ease with where he is in terms of his boxing and in terms of his life.

Part of his success surely has to do with his spirituality.

“Now that I am living a spiritual life, I can really go out and fight in God’s name,” Collazo declared. “Everyone is watching. For people to see me now from what I was before. Yes. I am older. I turn 33 years old today, Jesus’ age. But spiritually I feel like I am 22 again. It is just a blessing to go out there and do what I do best and do it with joy and happiness.”

A reporter asked: What do you say to those who counted you out, who said you were done?

“Thank you. I am well-done now. Before I was medium rare but now I am well-done!” Collazo said with a smile. “Everyone has an opinion. But the one that has the final say on who is done and who is not is God.”

“Now I use every negative and turn it into a positive. We are supposed to go through trials and tribulations. It gives us wisdom and character.”

Luis was asked to speak about the nonprofit organization he supports by a reporter.

The Nuyorican fighter hailing from Brooklyn said: “Nephcure. This is an organization I am very happy and grateful I can be a part of because there are many kidney conditions that a lot of people do not know about. There is a condition called FSGS. A girl I met, Allie Gennat. She is 16. I met her at the gym in Long Island. She is a sweetheart."

“She took up the sport to keep her condition from getting worse," Collazo continued. "Is a condition that she could get a [kidney] transplant today and the disease could comeback the next hour. And we know that without kidneys we can’t live. It is time to really raise awareness out there. Because we need to find a cure. She is not only my friend. She is like my little sister.  I just want to help to raise awareness so that we can find a cure for this horrible disease. Like the shirt says: ‘Saving Kidneys. Saving Lives.’ It could be my daughter. It could be myself going through this situation. I am just grateful for them letting me be part of it.”

Then, as the on-the-record conversation came to a close, the 15 or so people gathered at the Italian family restaurant broke into song and started singing Happy Birthday to Luis, who smiled, gamely put on a birthday hat and genuinely accepted everyone’s best wishes.

- Report by Carlos Giron - 

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