This was a fight week that Oscar Collazo has looked forward to ever since he first learned how to box.
It’s a perfect storm of events for the 25-year-old Boricua, who—in just his fifth pro fight—enters a title eliminator where a win would put him in line for a shot at the WBA strawweight title. His scheduled 12-round clash with former titlist Vic Saludar comes on his first fight in the U.S. and on a show promoted by the man who provided the inspiration for his given name.
“It’s incredible to be fighting on a Golden Boy Promotions show,” Collazo told BoxingScene.com of his appearance on the undercard of Saturday’s DAZN show from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. “My mom named me after Oscar De La Hoya. That was her favorite boxer.
“Now, here I am fighting on this Golden Boy Promotions show. It’s a dream come true. So, now I plan to deliver a performance that makes them want to keep bringing me back.”
Collazo (4-0, 3KOs) is being aggressively moved by lead promoter Miguel Cotto, the recently Hall of Fame-enshrined former four-division whose company views the 5’1” southpaw as the island’s next great thing.
“He’s an amazing kid, gifted in and out of the ring,” Bryan Perez, executive director of Promociones Miguel Cotto told BoxingScene.com. “He’s going to be a champion within his next couple of fights and will be ruling the sport for a very long time.”
That belief held true from the moment Cotto signed Collazo out of the amateurs, after amassing a record of 136-15 and claiming five national titles along with a Gold medal during the 2019 Pan-Am Games in Lima, Peru. Collazo was groomed for a place on Puerto Rico’s 2020 Olympic team to compete in Tokyo, though denied a trip due to the light flyweight division not being represented in the quadrennial classic.
Collazo instead made the decision to turn pro in February 2020. The pandemic only marginally slowed him down, landing two fights each in 2020 and 2021 before deciding to advance straight to the contender level.
A win on Saturday will leave Collazo as the number-one contender in the WBA strawweight rankings. The division is one of several with more than one WBA titleholder—‘World’ titlist Erick ‘Mini Pacman’ Rosa (5-0, 1KO) is an immediate target of Collazo, and from there a shot at WBA “Super” champ Thammanoon Niyomtrong (23-0. 9KOs).
For now, the short-term goal is to handle business on Saturday and leave an impression on his boxing idols who happen to be his co-promoters.
“It’s a great opportunity. I’m grateful for this chance to shine. I feel great. This is my chance to let the boxing world see who I am and what I'm made of—a future champion.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
