Unified champion Oscar Collazo only at the beginning of his journey

Oscar Collazo says that his recent visit to Saudi Arabia took “at least three years” off his life.

That was the flight, not the fight.

“Man, it hurt a lot,” he said of the 20-hour trip to Riyadh from Puerto Rico. “When we arrived over there in Riyadh, I was thinking about the flight coming back already. I was like, oh shit, we gotta go back.”

Collazo can laugh about it now, because ultimately the business trip was a success, as he went there with one minimumweight world title belt and came back with two thanks to his seventh-round stoppage of Knockout CP Freshmart. 

It was a career-best effort for the 27-year-old from Villalba, who handed his opponent his first loss while improving to 11-0 with eight knockouts. And while no fight is easy, Collazo made it look that way on November 16.

“In the second, third round, I said, ‘Whoa, this is going to be easy fight; I’m going to knock him out,’” said Collazo, who was shutting Freshmart out on all three cards at the time of the stoppage, which came after he scored three knockdowns of his foe. “And in the fourth, fifth round, when I started getting the punches in, I knew it was just a matter of time. I thought that he was going to come more aggressive and have a better fight. But we had a good strategy, stuck to the plan and neutralized what he did. And that’s why we made it so easy, because we stand our ground, defend, and use the footwork to manage to stay out of the way at all times.”

With the win, Collazo is now the WBO, WBA and The Ring champion at 105 pounds, the longtime home of one of his mentors, Hall of Famer Ivan Calderon, who has been giving him advice for a long time about dealing with the business of boxing, in and out of the ring.

“He says, in the ring, always be intelligent,” said Collazo. “I’m the fighter, I’m the one who’s fighting and I know how I feel. Always do the right thing in the ring and outside the ring. He also showed me different ways to invest your money. Like me, he was a lower weight class fighter, and he knew what to do with the money. So who better to get advice from?”

It’s valuable advice, because unlike recent Puerto Rican icons like Felix Trinidad and his co-promoter Miguel Cotto, Collazo will likely have a tougher time breaking through to the mainstream because of his weight class. Or will he? Collazo can knock people out, he’s willing to fight all comers, and he’s got a charisma in and out of the ring, something fans on his island have taken to.

“It’s different,” he said of the reaction to his success in Puerto Rico. “The people recognize me more, they want me to go to their school, to their houses to visit them, and it’s been a great experience being a unified champion because everybody recognizes you. They respect and admire you, and it’s a good feeling.”

They don’t even hold it against him that he was named after his other co-promoter, Oscar De La Hoya. Yes, it’s true.

“My mom was always a huge fan of Oscar,” he laughs. “When I was born, she said she was going to name me Oscar because it’s her favorite boxer. And what a coincidence.” 

So no pushback from the family for not naming him after Trinidad?

“Mom had the power of naming me,” he laughs. “They already knew she was going to do it like this and that’s it. And my family’s all happy and very proud. They have a unified champion.”

They do, but Collazo isn’t satisfied. He wants all the belts in 2025. 

“We’re looking to do the same thing as this year,” said Collazo, who went 3-0 with two knockouts in 2024. “Three or four fights and two of them being unified fights against the WBC and IBF champions.”

After that, he’ll be moving on up.

“I want to be the first undisputed male champion from Puerto Rico,” he said. “I want to do what it takes to beat the champions in the 105-pound division and be the king of the weight class. And when I’m done doing that, bump up 108 and do the same thing.”  

That’s the ambition Puerto Rican fighters are known for. And that’s just what Oscar Collazo is.

“It’s a privilege and honor because this is such a big fanbase,” said Collazo when asked what it means to represent his island. “We have a huge impact on the sport and on the heritage of everything in Puerto Rico. I think that it’s a very special thing to be a Puerto Rican fighter.”