Oscar Collazo stopped late replacement Neider Valdez in the second round on Friday night, winning a WBA flyweight title in the process. Collazo (15-0, 12 KOs) holds multiple belts at 105, but moved up when original opponent Joey Canoy had visa problems and was replaced by Valdez, who could not make the 105-lb limit to challenge for Collazo’s titles.
Collazo dropped Valdez (15-4-3, 12 KOs) three times in the second round, with the fight being waved off at the 2:35 mark of round two.
Collazo – Valdez headlined the Golden Boy Promotions show at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, CA and was broadcast on DAZN.
Valdez was for the challenge of the pound-for-pound star, but Collazo never let him get anything going. Collazo smothered him with pressure and power shots and the knockdowns came in quick succession.
Up next for Collazo could be a showdown for a light flyweight title or a flyweight super bout vs. Ricardo Sandoval.
UNDERCARD
YAIR GALLARDO UD10 over BUNEET BISLA
Light Heavyweight Yair Gallardo (12-0, 9 KOs) weathered a storm against rangy Buneet Bisla (14-2, 7 KOs) for a 10-round unanimous decision. Bisla got up from a second-round knockdown and came on through the middle rounds to make it an interesting fight. Gallardo had too much power and looked to be in control against Bisla’s sharp-shooting.
It was a quick start for Gallardo and he dropped his foe in the second round while building an early lead. But the Canadian kept it together and outboxed Gallardo for long stretches in middle of the fight. The punches did little damage on Gallardo, and the unbeaten Mexican continued to come forward.
Ultimately, the judges saw it for Gallardo by scores of 98-91, 97-92 and 96-93.
RUSLAN ABDULLAEV KO5 over ORESTES VELAZQUEZ
Super lightweight Ruslan Abdullaev of Uzbekistan improved to 5-0 (3 KOs) with a fifth-round stoppage of Orestes Velazquez of Cuba. Velazquez crumbled under the weight of a combination in the corner and did not beat the count. Official time of the stoppage was 1:32.
Velazquez came to fight and stood in against the heavy-handed Abdullaev early on, getting in some quality shots. But the heat was too much and Abdullaev was clearly a class above.
JOSHUA EDWARDS KO2 over GARRETH PAYTON
2024 Olympian Joshua Edwards (7-0, 6 KOs) stayed perfect, winning his heavyweight bout via KO2 over Garreth Payton (7-3, 4 KOs). Payton was not on the level of “Rocket” Edwards and retreated from the power shots from the opening bell. The end was somewhat suspect, as it didn’t appear that a lethal shot was what put Payton on his back, but the end came at 1:06.
CAYDEN GRIFFITHS TKO3 over ALAN CRISTOSTO
Rising Golden Boy star Cayden Griffits got it done with an unsatisfying TKO3 over Alan Crostotsto. Griffiths was clearly the better fighter but his opponent’s corner bailed on the mission after their fighter was dropped by a body shot in the third round. Cristosto appeared to have weathered the storm and was working from the outside to stay out of further danger.
But with just 15 seconds to go, the corner directed the commission representative to throw in the towel and the fight was over. It would have been over at some point in the near future, but it was an odd surrender.
