Oscar Manuel Collazo (born January 15, 1997) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer, who has held the WBO mini flyweight title since May 2023.

Amateur boxing career
During his seven-year amateur career, Collazo won five national amateur boxing titles, the bronze medal the 2017 Panamerican Championships and the gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games.

Professional boxing career

Early career

Career beginnings
Collazo made his professional debut as a light flyweight against Vicente Castro Cheneque on 15 February 2020. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. Collazo was next booked to face Kevin John Cruz Jusino on 5 December 2020. He won his second professional bout a round quicker than his first, as he won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.

Collazo moved up to flyweight for his next bout, against Francisco Bonilla on 25 March 2021, on the Amanda Serrano vs. Daniela Romina Bermúdez undercard. He won the fight by a career-first unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 60–54 in his favor. Collazo moved down to mini flyweight to face Pedro Villegas for the vacant WBO Latino minimumweight title on 3 December 2021. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout.

Title eliminators
Collazo faced the former WBO and WBA (Regular) mini-flyweight champion Vic Saludar in a WBA mini-flyweight title eliminator. The fight was booked for the undercard of the Javier Fortuna lightweight bout, which took place on July 16, 2022. Collazo won the fight by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 116–112 and one scorecard of 118–110. Both fighters were knocked down in the sixth round, Saludar with a two-punch combination and Collazo with a right uppercut.

Collazo was expected to face the former WBO mini flyweight titlist Wilfredo Méndez in a WBO mini-flyweight title eliminator on January 28, 2023, on the undercard of the Alexis Rocha and Anthony Young welterweight bout, which took place at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California. Méndez was forced to withdraw from the bout on January 15, due to a back injury sustained in training. He was replaced by Yudel Reyes, who stepped in on two-week's notice. Collazo stopped his opponent with a left hook at the 2:59 minute mark of the fifth round. He had knocked Reyes down with a right hook in the previous round.

WBO mini flyweight champion

Collazo vs. Jerusalem
On January 30, 2023, the WBO ordered their mini-flyweight champion Melvin Jerusalem make a mandatory title defense against Collazo. As the they failed to reach a deal within the 30-day negotiation period, the sanctioning body scheduled a purse bid for February 23. It was declared deserted for failure to comply with purse bid terms, rescheduled for February 27, and eventually won by Golden Boy Promotions and Cotto Promotions with a bid of $152,000. The championship bout took place at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California on May 27, 2023. Collazo won the fight by stoppage in the seventh round, as Jerusalem remained on his stool at the start of the eighth round. He became the fastest fighter from Puerto Rico to win a world title belt, overtaking Alex Sánchez who captured his first title 11 fights into his professional career.

Collazo vs. Diagan
Collazo was booked to make a voluntary championship defense against the ninth-ranked WBO mini-flyweight contender Garen Diagan on August 26, 2023, at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He won the fight by a sixth-round stoppage, as Diagan remained on his stool between the rounds and retired before the start of the seventh.

Professional boxing record

See also
List of world mini-flyweight boxing champions
List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
Sports in Puerto Rico
List of southpaw stance boxers

References

External links

 

1997 births
Living people
American male boxers
Boxers from Newark, New Jersey
Puerto Rican male boxers
Light-flyweight boxers
Flyweight boxers
Southpaw boxers
Boxers at the 2019 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
Pan American Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico
Pan American Games medalists in boxing
World mini-flyweight boxing champions
World Boxing Organization champions