PUERTO Rico’s rising star Oscar Collazo is still the unified WBA and WBO minimumweight champion after stopping challenger Jayson Vayson in round seven at the Fantasy Springs Casino last night.
Collazo was winning the California clash, seemingly by narrow margins, as Vayson fought hard. However, the visitor’s corner thought otherwise, stepping up to stop the contest at 1-41 of the seventh with their man appearing to be well in the contest.
All three judges had Collazo ahead 59-54 at the time of the stoppage. Those totals don’t really tell the story of the fight either. DAZN scorer Chris Mannix had it even at one point, with Vayson having visibly hurt Collazo to the body.
Fight favourite Oscar Collazo started strongly, scoring a knockdown. The 28-year-old landed a check right hook on an off-balance Vayson, sending him to the canvas for an early count in round one.
It looked like a cuffing forearm on replay and did not place Vayson in any major distress as he fought back well in the following two sessions. Vayson landed a solid uppercut in the sixth, indicating he was well in the fight. A round later, his corner alerted referee Thomas Taylor that they felt otherwise.
“I was putting pressure on him. I was picking my shots and we got the stoppage,” said Collazo, 13-0 (10 KOs), agreeing with the decision to end it.
Going on to admit that he had been tagged and briefly hurt to the body, the two-belt champion added, “He’s a good warrior. I loved the fight and I hope the fans loved it too.”
Declining any invitation to complain, Vayson, falling to 14-2-1 (8 KOs), did not contradict his corner’s choice. ‘Striker’ had felt the force downstairs and wanted to carry on, but respected the ending.
Collazo should be aiming for undisputed status next, as his title rivals at 105 pounds seem beatable. Failing that, a move up in weight to challenge another two-belt king, Ricardo Sandoval, could be on the cards.
Sandoval won his flyweight titles out in Japan recently, defeating Kenshiro Teraji by split decision. Sandoval was in the ring earlier in the evening, welcoming a scrap which would mean Collazo moving up two weight classes to fulfil.
