Puerto Rico’s Oscar “El Pupillo” Collazo continues his impressive reign at minimumweight.
ANAHEIM, CA – This must be the year of the Puerto Ricans.
Unified minimumweight champ Oscar “El Pupillo” Collazo muscled and powered his way through Mexico’s Jesus Haro to win by stoppage on Saturday.
It was Collazo’s seventh straight defense.
WBA and WBO titlist Collazo (14-0, 12 Kos) kept the momentum going for Boricuas everywhere with a one-sided win over Haro (13-4, 2 Kos) before more than 8,000 fans at the Honda Center. First, Amanda Serrano, then Xander Zayas and Bad Bunny kept Puerto Rico’s flag on a winning streak.
“Puerto Ricans, we come for everything,” said Collazo adding baseball too.
Collazo holds the WBA and WBO titles and is on the hunt for the other two titles too.
“I’m the king of the 105 champions,” he said.
It was clear by the third round that Collazo was in charge and feared nothing from Haro. The Puerto Rican southpaw followed Haro around like he was tethered to his waist. Any time the Mexican fighter fired a punch Collazo would return two or three more.
The champion was confident, not cocky and it showed. Blows were mounting and Haro seemed slightly overwhelmed by the Puerto Rican’s assaults.
“It was about to happen,” said Collazo about a pending knockout. “The body shots were taking effect around the fifth round.”
In the sixth round, heads collided but neither fighter suffered a cut. Collazo continued pressuring Haro and pummeling the body and head. The Mexican fighter was in survival mode and kept searching for ways to avoid being stopped.
“Just staying calm and making him move. I was roughing him up and I knew it,” said Collazo about winning by stoppage.
At the end of the round referee Thomas Taylor waved the fight over after Haro’s corner surrendered.
Collazo remains world champion after his seventh consecutive defense. Puerto Rico remains on top.
Battle of the Juniors
A battle between welterweight contenders saw Arnold Barboza Jr. defeat Kenneth Sims Jr. by unanimous decision in a match between sharp counter-punchers that was closer than the cards.
Barboza was coming off his only loss and moved up to welterweight, and the move seemed to suit him perfectly.
“I had a big old steak on Tuesday,” Barboza claimed.
The extra weight enabled him to win a regional welterweight title behind sharp punching and combinations. Sims also had his moments in their fight between juniors.
“My whole team put the battle plan together,” said Barboza about trainers Abel Sanchez and Ben Lira. “I could have gone 10 more rounds.”
Barboza said the battle was not easy
“Sims is a tricky fighter, a smart fighter,” he said.
After 12 rounds all three judges saw Barboza the winner 120-109, 118-110, 117-111.
“I want to be a champion,” said Barboza, adding that Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney or Rolly Romero are on his hit list..
Other bouts
Back in the 1970s or 80s this would have sold out the Olympic Auditorium, but instead it filled the seats in Anaheim as Santa Ana’s Alexis Rocha (26-2-1, 16 Kos) out-worked former world champion Jojo Diaz (34-9-1, 15 Kos) of South El Monte in a spirited welterweight bout.
The punches never slowed.
Rocha took the lead first with a spirited attack that he kept throughout the 10 rounds despite being injured and out of action for 15 months. He didn’t have to search for Diaz who never says no to a fight.
“I felt the ring rust, I’m not going to lie,” said Rocha who had an arm injury that kept him out of action.
Rocha demonstrated that he was ready for action. Diaz did not go easy.
Fans of both fighters let their voices do the talking as both welters slugged it out every round. Rocha would unload a dozen blows and Diaz would unleash his own famous combinations. Each fighter scored and that made the fight difficult to score at times.
But Rocha showed he is ready to fight.
“It means the world to me. No one know what I was going through,” said Rocha about being inactive. “My timing was a little off.”
After 10 rounds all three judges favored Rocha 97-93, 98-92, 100-90.
Undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora (18-0, 10 Kos) was in no rush to eliminate newest contender Viviana Ruiz (10-3, 5 Kos) who walked in with a decided height disadvantage. That proved pivotal as the champion caught up to the challenger and rained blows until the referee stopped the fight.
“She was a tough opponent. Right away I think she felt my punches,” said Fundora.
For the first five rounds Fundora allowed Ruiz to do the attacking while she stood poised to counter and defend, Ruiz tried her best but the size and speed advantage proved too much. For every punch landed by Ruiz, Fundora would return triple the blows.
“I wanted to do something different. I wanted to showcase my boxing. It was just something I was working on,” Fundora said.
In the fifth round Ruiz connected hard with a right and the crowd roared. Immediately Fundora slipped into attack mode and cornered the smaller fighter as she pummeled the challenger.
Fundora was in full attack mode and Ruiz had no choice but to exchange. Fundora opened up with a fierce barrage that the challenger could not match. Referee Ray Corona saw the inequity and stopped the fight at 1:25 of the sixth round.
Fundora was ruled the winner by knockout and retains all the flyweight titles.
“I know every fight is going to be a different fight,” Fundora said. “I think I can make 108. Maybe at 115 or 108.”
Bakersfield’s Joel Iriarte (10-0, 9 Kos) nearly went down from a punch from big-punching Rock Myrthil (17-3-1, 13 Kos) but that seemed to make him more alert and energized as he knocked out the heavy-hitter during a furious exchange in their welterweight match.
It was during an exchange in the second round that Myrthil cranked a crisp right that sent Iriarte stumbling across the ring. He nearly touched the canvas but jogged back into the fray.
“It was really nothing,” Iriarte said of the blow. “I got a bunch of rounds in.”
After that near knockdown Iriarte was more aware of Myrthil’s power but continued to stalk the shorter fighter.
“Rock was a pretty good opponent,” Iriarte said. “I was just trying to set up a good punch.”
In the sixth round Iriarte and Myrthil stood their ground and exchanged lightning left hooks. Iriarte’s left connected first and down went Myrthil. He beat the count, but Iriarte turned up the heat with a four-punch salvo that forced referee Thomas Taylor to halt the fight at 2:35 of the round.
Coachella’s Grant Flores (13-0, 9 Kos) floored Rashid Stevens (6-2-2, 5Kos) three times in winning the super welterweight fight by unanimous decision after eight rounds. Stevens, a southpaw from Gardena, had a good first round, but he ran into a counter overhand right during an exchange in the second round. After beating the count, he was floored by a four-round combination and that set the tone for the rest of the contest. All three judges scored for the six-foot, one-inch Flores 79-70, 78-71, 77-72.
Welterweight prospect Cayden Griffiths (8-0, 7 Kos) needed less than two rounds to prove he was more than ready for Mexican veteran Omar Munguia (8-3-1, 6 Kos). Griffiths floored Munguia in the second round and that forced the referee to halt the fight at 51 seconds of round two.
Photo Credit: Al Applerose