Prospect of the Month (January): Oscar Collazo
The little men of the boxing world get no respect. They give non-stop all-action fights, fight the best and deliver fights of the year on a regular basis. For anyone under the 122-pound division to capture the boxing world's attention they need to possess something so special and so next level that it leaves no donut. The way Bam Rodriguez is doing and Inoue and Chocolatito have done in the past. However, that's exactly what Puerto Rico's next Great one, Oscar Collazo, is doing. The 5'1 105-pound hard-hitting and slick-moving southpaw has captured the attention of the boxing world and looks to be fast-tracked to a world title.
"El Pupilo" attention of the boxing world back last summer on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs Javier Fortuna in an all-out, drag-out 12-round war with Victorio Saludar. Then he put the boxing world on notice on January 28th by destroying in Yudel Reyes in five rounds Yudel Reyes. to Capture the WBO minimumweight mandatory position by winning the title eliminator He will now be the mandatory challenger for WBO champion Melvin Jerusalem of the Philippines. Jerusalem captured the title in stunning fashion by stopping Masataka Taniguchi on January 6th in the second round in Osaka, Japan. The fight between Collazo and Jerusalem will likely be fast-tracked as it will be viewed as very, very winnable for the Puerto Rican sensation and Golden Boy will likely want to begin building up their young star into the next Ivan Calderon, who should be in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Being a Puerto Rican fighter who was born in New Jersey will give him a natural fan base in the great NYC area something Golden Boy is currently lacking.
At 5'1 it is hard to imagine "El Pupilo" going up the weight classes and keep winning world titles in the higher weight classes like Nietes or Ioka or Chocolatito have done before him. However, he could likely build a legacy and dominate the 105 and 108-pound divisions for years to come. At 26 years old the smaller-weight guys are usually already in their peak. So despite having just six fights, Collazo is already in or very near his peak. He had an exceptional amateur career that saw him win a Gold Medal in the 2019 Pan-American games.
