Oscar Collazo retained his WBA and WBO strawweight boxing world championship titles in style as he put a brutal beatdown on an overmatched Jesus Haro at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Considering Haro had lost two of the four fights he had prior to meeting Collazo (14-0, 11 KOs), little competition was expected in the Golden Boy Promotions co-main event on Saturday — and it was one-sided from the start.
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“I knew he was going to come just to survive,” said Collazo, a southpaw puncher who has dominated the 105-pound division, and who seemingly expected more of a fight from the 23-year-old Californian.
If Collazo knew that in advance, he preyed upon it from the opening bell as he fought with a high pace, was fast on his feet, and sent whipping punches to the face and the body.
Haro (13-4, 2 KOs)moved around outside of the ring perhaps with the knowledge that the only way he could “survive,” as Collazo put it, was to frustrate rather than overpower the champion.
Regardless of the perceived layup matchup, Collazo remained defensively disciplined as he darted in and out of his attacks, refusing to simply go head-hunting as he chipped away at Haro’s body with jabs and painful left hooks to the ribs, before returning his attention to the jaw.
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“I landed hard body shots in the fourth and fifth, roughing him up, and I looked at his corner,” Collazo said post-fight, “and he was breathing heavily. So I put on the gas pedal, and went for him.”
Once Collazo had gathered the intel, from the fifth round onward he acted on it by stalking Haro around the ring, cutting it off, throwing — and landing — troubling shots, boxing him at mid-range, and continually throwing punches when Haro tried to tie him up and buy himself a respite from the punishment.
But no pause from the action ever came.
Haro said, in Spanish, “I don’t want any more of this,” as the body shots proved to take their toll and so he finished the fight on his stool, unwilling to answer the bell, ensuring Collazo scored a stoppage after six round.
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Shortly after referee Thomas Taylor called the victory a knockout, Collazo celebrated atop the shoulders of his coaches with the Puerto Rico flag waving in the background.
“The body shots were having an effect [on him] in the fifth round,” Collazo said. “I knew sooner or later that I’d get the stoppage if I stayed calm, used the jab, [kept using] body shots and just made him move to stress him out entirely.”
Long established as the No. 1 fighter in the division, Collazo now wants to leave no doubt and called for a rematch against WBC champion Melvin Jerusalem, whom he stopped in the seventh round in 2023. He said he’ll be watching Jerusalum’s next fight with interest, wanting to do it all over again if the Filipino fighter is victorious.
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“I’m the king of the 105-pound champions,” Collazo said. “I’ll fight anybody. Melvin, I hope you win May 18. I’m coming for you.”
Collazo finished by remarking that he wants to “scale up the pound-for-pound rankings” and envisions entering the top five “by the end of the year.”
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