Golden Boy/Cris EsquedaOscar Collazo’s interest in moving up in weight for a title is genuine.
How worthwhile his second-round knockout victory over Nedier Valdez in a flyweight bout is in question, however.
Collazo, 15-0 (12 KOs), decked Valdez three times in the second frame, gaining the finish at 2-35 of the session with a variety of power punches.
The final sequence was a power left to the body and a right to the head, prompting fight-week replacement Valdez to glance at his corner, who quickly moved to wave the fight over.
Mexico’s Valdez is now 2-4-1 in his past seven bouts.
Whether Saturday’s triumph at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, qualified as a proving ground or not, Puerto Rico’s unified strawweight champion Collazo said he’s ready to move up two divisions to challenge unified flyweight champion Ricardo Sandoval, who’s also promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
“I want to stay in this division,” Collazo said. “I really want Sandoval,. I’m ready to make history.”
Collazo said Valdez brought a game effort in the first round, and finishing him in the second encourages his move up in weight, with Sandoval’s schedule clear.
“I felt great. He was a bit tricky, it was just a matter of time. I was timing [my left hand],” Collazo said. “It was a good stoppage. He was going to get knocked out – a big knockout.”
Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya called Collazo the “biggest little man in the business. Oscar Collazo belongs in the top three in the pound for pound.”
De La Hoya said he wants Collazo-Sandoval in Puerto Rico or Los Angeles.
“Stylistically, it’ll be a war. It’s the best fight to make,” De La Hoya said.
In the co-main event, Mexico’s Yair Gallardo defeated Buneet Singh Bisla by unanimous decision, 97-92, 98-91, 96-93.
Gallardo, 23, knocked down Bisla in the second round, but stopped short of flashing a rounded game beyond power to finish the Canadian.
The card featured three dominant showings by unbeaten Golden Boy prospects.
Super-lightweight Ruslan Abdullaev, 5-0 (3 KOs), a 2024 Olympian from Uzbekistan, knocked out Orestes Velazquez 1-30 into the fifth round to retain a minor WBA belt.
Heavyweight Joshua Edwards, 7-0 (6 KOs), finished Garreth Payton by knockout in the second round.
And junior middleweight Cayden Griffiths, 9-0 (8 KOs), was done with Alan Crisoto at 2-49 of the third round.
