Mosley shows some old tricks

Shane Mosley said at the end of his training camp that he felt as if he were turning back the clock, becoming faster and more powerful despite his 35 years.

Through seven rounds Saturday night, Mosley found himself in a near dead heat against Luis Collazo in their fight for the World Boxing Council interim welterweight championship.

Then, Mosley turned back the clock once more.

Landing a steady flow of the stiff right-handed punches that have given him 37 knockouts in 48 bouts, Mosley notched an 11th-round knockdown and scored a 118-109, 118-109, 119-108 decision in front of 5,761 at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

It was Mosley’s first fight as a welterweight since 2002, a return to 147 pounds after fighting the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and Winky Wright as high as junior-middleweight (154 pounds).

Collazo, a 25-year-old left-hander, stung Mosley with stiff lefts and crisp three-punch combinations. A solid left near the start of the sixth round snapped back Mosley’s head, and he complained to his father and trainer, Jack Mosley, of neck pain before the 10th round.

Mosley (44-4) produced an impressive second-round barrage that wore down Collazo, then squeezed in scoring jabs and rights in the fourth and fifth rounds, with only Collazo’s speed keeping Mosley from turning in the short, dominating performances that marked his fights in the late 1990s.

“Collazo stayed up there, he’s a warrior,” Mosley said. “The southpaw style affected me a little. I knew what to do. I could hit him with my quick little jabs.

“It feels good to be a welterweight again.”

A stiff right, an uppercut and a hook started Mosley’s late-round surge. He scored continually in the ninth and delivered punishing body shots in the 10th before flooring Collazo with a short right-handed punch near the end of the 11th.

Collazo (27-3), a former World Boxing Assn. welterweight champion, complained afterward that he re-aggravated a left-hand injury he suffered in training.

“I wish I could’ve been more effective,” Collazo said. “That was the best I could do. Shane came to fight. He did his job tonight.”

As the interim welterweight champion, Mosley will be crowned champion if current champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. vacates the title after his May 5 fight against De La Hoya. Mayweather said Saturday he doesn’t anticipate a future title fight against Mosley.

“If I do fight again, I’ll fight Oscar again,” Mayweather Jr. said. Mosley “did what he had to do [Saturday]. He had a chance [before] to get in there and fight me. Now, he wants a big payday before he leaves, but Floyd Mayweather stands his own ground.”

In an earlier WBC super-lightweight elimination bout, Vivian Harris outscored Juan Lazcano, 114-113, 115-112, 115-112, by landing a wealth of jabs and enough stiff rights to combat Lazcano’s effective inside combinations.

Harris (28-2-1) backed up Lazcano (37-4-1) in the second round and stung him most in the seventh with consecutive rights and a barrage that had Lazcano reeling.

Harris is poised to fight WBC champion Junior Witter of England.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com