Oscar Collazo celebrates the thrid protection of his WBO 105-pound title. Picture by Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
Oscar Collazo survived a tough second spherical towards Gerardo Zapata en path to outworking and outclassing the powerful Nicaraguan over 12 brisk rounds in protection of his WBO 105-pound title on Friday at Turning Stone Resort On line casino in Verona, New York. Collazo received by scores of 119-109 (twice) and 117-111.
The particular Golden Boy Promotions/DAZN present was a part of the Worldwide Boxing Corridor of Fame induction weekend and was witnessed by inductees previous and current, together with Marco Antonio Barrera (class of 2017) and Ricky Hatton (class of 2024).
Collazo (10-0, 7 KOs), The Ring’s No. 2-rated strawweight, made the third protection of the WBO belt as soon as held by fellow Puerto Rican Ivan Calderon, one of many 2024 inductees who was additionally current.
Calderon, who made 12 defenses of the WBO 105-pound belt (earlier than an extended title reign at 108 kilos), was a slick, cell and ring savvy southpaw. Collazo can also be a southpaw however the 27-year-old New Jersey native (who fights out of Villalba, Puerto Rico) is extra aggressive, offense-minded and flat-footed, which gave Zapata (14-2-1, 5 KOs) the chance to clock him with a giant proper hook 2 minutes into Spherical 2.
Collazo was immediately given a case of the “stanky leg” as he tried to maneuver away from the follow-up assault from the rangy 29-year-old challenger from Managua (at present coaching out of Maywood, California).
Zapata had his moments with punches like this. Picture by Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
Collazo had a transparent benefit in pace and approach, however Zapata, an ungainly and long-armed southpaw, proved to be harmful together with his well-timed counter punches.
“He caught me with a very good shot,” Collazo mentioned. “I slept on my protection there. I smiled at him as a result of he bought me, however I managed to field by means of it.”
Collazo’s bread and butter is sensible strain and a thumping physique assault, however he confirmed he’s in a position to field on the fly when want be, and the second spherical was his time to maneuver as Zapata went on the hunt.
Collazo stored his composure and continued to stay and transfer in Spherical 3. Zapata remained aggressive and seemed to attach with severe warmth, however Collazo’s sneaky physique photographs step by step took the steam from his punches by means of Rounds 4 and 5.
As Zapata slowed down, Collazo grew to become extra aggressive, taking extra dangers by staying within the pocket to load up with body-head combos.
“I wasn’t totally pleased with my efficiency tonight due to the second spherical, however I knew I had management of the battle by the sixth,” he mentioned.
Collazo regularly pressed Zapata to the ropes from Spherical 7 on, outworking the challenger as he step by step wore him down.
Collazo punished Zapata down the stretch of their strawweight bout. Picture by Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
By the championship rounds, Collazo may afford to take his foot off the fuel pedal a bit and showcase a few of his defensive prowess.
“I heard some Puerto Rican followers yell ‘Ole!’ once I slipped below his punches within the twelfth spherical,” he mentioned. “I confirmed a little bit of Calderon in there.”
Welterweight prospect Eric Tutor made fast work of Roddricus Livsey, halting the 41-year-old Atlanta native with a brutal proper hand to the rib cage within the opening spherical of their scheduled 10-round co-main occasion.
Tutor (11-1, 7 KOs), a tall and rangy 22-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, used his attain and pace to regulate the motion from a distance earlier than decreasing the physique shot increase that left Livsey (12-3-1, 9 KOs) writhing in ache on all fours throughout referee Charlie Fitch’s 10 depend.
Eric Tudor’s physique assault was on level. Picture by Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
Unbeaten junior welterweight Mykquan Williams stopped Willmark Brito within the third spherical of their scheduled eight-round bout.
Williams (21-0-2, 10 KOs) patiently arrange his electrical knockout by beating his southpaw opponent to the punch with sharp jabs and straight rights to the physique in Spherical 1 and a couple of. In Spherical 3, Williams stepped in nearer to Brito and timed quick proper fingers to the jaw that rocked the 36-year-old Venezuelan journeyman who was solely two months faraway from a first-round stoppage loss.
Within the closing seconds of the spherical, Williams made it back-to-back KO losses for Brito (12-6-2, 10 KOs) by blasting him sideways to the canvas with one other quick proper.
Williams, of East Hartford, Connecticut is managed by Jakie Kallen, one of many 2024 IBHOF inductees.
In essentially the most entertaining undercard bout on the Golden Boy Promotions/DAZN present, David Stevens and Sergio Lopez thrilled the gang with a 2-minute shootout, in the end received by Stevens who needed to survive a number of wobbly moments through the first minute of motion. Williams, badly staggered with the primary punch Lopez landed, seemed on the verge of happening at the least twice however caught himself by tackling his wild-swinging antagonist.
David Stevens remained on his toes (barely) with a number of tackles. Picture by Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
Stevens (14-1, 10 KOs), a Ronnie Shields-trained tremendous middleweight from Studying, Pennsylvania, pulled it out by dropping his aggressive Argentine adversary with a cross-hook mixture simply earlier than the 2-minute mark. Lopez (14-6, 10 KOs) landed flat on his face however by some means beat referee Charlie Fitch’s 10 depend. Nevertheless, a fast observe up assault instantly dropped Lopez once more, prompting Fitch to wave the bout at 2:13 of the opening spherical.
Stevens took Brito’s greatest photographs however Brito couldn’t take his. Picture by Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
