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Lem’s latest: Luis Collazo dedicates Victor Ortiz bout to kidney patient

Fighters Network
16
Jan

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Luis Collazo is dedicating his Jan. 30 bout against Victor Ortiz at Barclays Center in Brooklyn to The NephCure Foundation, a kidney disease non-profit, as well as in honor of 15-year-old Allie Genatt, who suffers from the incurable kidney disease Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).

"As a former — and future —world champion, I've reached many of my goals in boxing," said Collazo, who will wear www.NephCure.org on his robe and trunks during a Golden Boy Live! event that will be televised on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes.

"Now I want to use the platform of this fight to call attention to Allie's battle with FSGS and to The NephCure Foundation, which funds research into finding a cure," Collazo added. "NephCure needs to find patient families dealing with these kidney conditions in the Hispanic communities of New York City, and I can help them do that."



FSGS is a rare disease that attacks the kidney's filtering system causing serious scarring. FSGS is one of the causes of a serious condition known as Nephrotic Syndrome.  Genatt, of Brookville, N.Y., underwent a kidney transplant at age 11, and is an inspiration for finding better treatments toward a cure for her affliction.

FSGS afflicted the late actor Gary Coleman and interrupted the NBA career of Alonzo Mourning. The disease often requires dialysis or transplant. Genatt received her mother's kidney via transplant in 2010, and now fights off relapse because the disease attacks the new kidney in 50 percent of cases.

In preparation for her surgery, Genatt engaged in a physical fitness regimen of boxing and met Collazo through her trainers Scooter Honig and Eddie O'Boyle at Competitive Edge Athletics in Port Washington. Honig trains Collazo and other athletes and celebrities such as LL Cool J at the Long Island facility.

Genatt's father, Rich Genatt, is a member of The NephCure Foundation Board of Directors, and Allie speaks at meetings of Nephrologists and organizes fundraising walks for NephCure while attending Jericho High School.

Genatt will join Collazo (34-5, 17 knockouts) at the pre-fight news conference and will be ringside at when he meets Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KOs) in a clash of southpaws that will take place three days before the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., less than an hour drive from Brooklyn.

Collazo, 32, has gone 3-0 with one knockout, with all of those bouts occuring at Barclays Center, since falling by unanimous decision to Freddy Hernandez, In his last fight, Collazo scored a unanimous 10-round decision over Alan Sanchez in Texas.

Ortiz, 26, will be ending a 19-month ring absence, having been cast for a role in the third installment of Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables and Dancing With The Stars.

An all-action fighter, Ortiz was last in the ring in June of 2012, when he suffered a ninth-round stoppage loss to Josesito Lopez after which he required a two-hour surgery to repair a broken jaw.

Following a majority draw with current IBF 140-pounder beltholder Lamont Peterson in 2010, Ortiz debuted as a 147-pounder and dethroned Andre Berto as WBC titleholder by unanimous decision. There were four knockdowns in Ortiz-Berto — two by each fighter.

In his next fight in September of 2011, however, Ortiz lost the belt by fourth-round knockout to Floyd Mayweather Jr. before facing Lopez.

In a junior middleweight clash of unbeatens, Eddie Gomez (15-0, 10 KOs), of Bronx, N.Y, will face Daquan Arnett (11-0, 7 KOs) of Winter Park, Fla.

Like Collazo, Gomez will be making his fourth appearance at Barclays when he meets Arnett, whom he defeated as an amateur.

 

MANUEL AVILA HEADLINES FEB. 17 GOLDEN BOY LIVE! EVENT

Northern California junior featherweight Manuel Avila (13-0, 5 KOs) will face Enrique Quevedo (15-6-1, 9 KOs), while Paul Mendez (14-2-2, 6 KOs) and Raul Casarez (20-4, 9 KOs) will also clash in a double-header on a Feb. 17 Golden Boy Live! card on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes.

Presented by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions and Paco Presents, the event will be held at the Salinas Storm House in Salinas, Calif.

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