Oscar Manuel Collazo (born January 15, 1997) is a Puerto Rican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO) mini flyweight title since May 2023.

Amateur 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 The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Professional career

Early career

Collazo made his professional debut as a

light flyweight Light flyweight, also known as junior flyweight or super strawweight, is a weight class in boxing. Professional boxing The weight limit at light flyweight in professional boxing is 108 pounds (49 kilograms). When New York legalized boxing in 1920 ...

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 Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

for his next bout, against Francisco Bonilla on 25 March 2021, on the

Amanda Serrano Amanda Serrano (born October 9, 1988) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. As a boxer, she is the unified featherweight world champion, having held the WBO title since 2019 and the WBC and IBO ...

vs.

Daniela Romina Bermúdez Daniela Romina Bermúdez (born 7 July 1989) is an Argentine professional boxer. She is a former world champion in three weight classes, having held the WBO female bantamweight title twice between 2013 and 2020; the WBO female super flyweight ti ...

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.

Rise up the ranks

Collazo faced the former WBO and

WBA (Regular) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

mini-flyweight champion

Vic Saludar Victorio Miranda Saludar (born 3 November 1990) is a Filipino professional boxer who held the WBO mini-flyweight title from 2018 to 2019 and the WBA (Regular) mini-flyweight title in 2021. Amateur career Saludar was a successful amateur. He's ...

in a WBA mini-flyweight title eliminator. The fight was booked for the undercard of the

Javier Fortuna Javier Fortuna Francisco (born July 15, 1989) is a Dominican professional boxer. He held the WBA interim featherweight title from 2012 to 2013, the WBA (Regular) super featherweight title from 2015 to 2016, and challenged for the IBF lightwe ...

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 Wilfredo Méndez (born 10 November 1996) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who held the WBO mini flyweight title between August 2019 to December 2021. As of September 2021, he was ranked as the fourth best strawweight in the world by TBRB ...

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 YouTube Theater is a 6,000 seat music and theater venue in Inglewood, California, U.S. Located under the same structure that houses SoFi Stadium, the home of the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. It is part of ...

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. 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 Melvin Oliva Jerusalem (born 22 February 1994) is a Filipino professional boxer who has held the WBO mini-flyweight title since January 2023 and challenged for the WBC mini-flyweight title in 2017. Professional career Early career First title ...

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

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Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

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 Roberto Clemente Coliseum (Spanish: ''Coliseo Roberto Clemente'') is a sports and concert arena located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest indoor event facility, and remains one of the largest. General infor ...

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

. 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.

Collazo vs. Gutierrez

On December 30, 2023, it was announced that Collazo would make his second WBO mini-flyweight championship defense against an unnamed opponent on the undercard of the

Jaime Munguia Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and ...

and John Ryder super middleweight bout, which is expected to take place at the

Footprint Center Footprint Center (formerly known as America West Arena, US Airways Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena and Phoenix Suns Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Built in the regional population center of the southwestern United Sta ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

on January 27, 2024. On January 17, 2024, it was confirmed that Collazo would face Reyneris Gutierrez.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collazo, Jesse 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