American/Puerto Rican minimumweight WBO champion Oscar Collazo continued to make waves in his early career with a decisive stoppage victory over Filipino contender Garen Diagan. The bout took place in Collazo’s ancestral homeland of Puerto Rico on Saturday, August 26th, at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente arena in San Juan. Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, the fight was featured on DAZN.
Oscar Collazo (8-0, 6 KO’s), 26, holds American citizenship but has strong connections to Puerto Rico through his parents. Despite being born in the U.S., Collazo has chosen to make Puerto Rico his residence and has already fought there three times in his fledgling professional career.
On August 26th, Collazo faced off against Garen Diagan (10-4, 5 KO’s), a 27-year-old southpaw similar to Collazo. Diagan was considered one of the division’s top contenders due to his high rankings across various sanctioning bodies.
While Diagan had more fights under his belt than Collazo, his experience remained relatively limited. His most significant victory came via a close split decision against Chinese contender Huu Toan Le earlier in the year, in March. Notably, Collazo had only seven fights when he confronted Diagan, marking his first title defense after winning the WBO title in May against another Filipino contender, Melvin Jerusalem. In contrast, the fight against Collazo marked Garen Diagan’s first shot at a world title.
The two fighters employed different styles despite sharing the southpaw stance. Collazo chose an aggressive approach, pressuring Diagan throughout the rounds, while Diagan opted for a defensive backfoot strategy.
From the beginning of the match, their contrasting styles created an engaging clash. Diagan showcased effective counterpunching on the backfoot, while Collazo utilized his jabs to test his range and frequently attempted to land hooks on the inside. Although the rounds weren’t entirely balanced, Collazo’s higher output gave him an edge. Nevertheless, Diagan’s counterpunching posed a consistent threat, allowing him to potentially secure a round or two.
In the sixth round, Collazo solidified his dominance as several of his combinations found their mark on Diagan. Collazo maintained an unrelenting pace, consistently pressuring his opponent and inflicting significant damage. Diagan’s defense wavered, and the sixth round proved pivotal as his corner determined he could no longer continue.
The referee halted the match after assessing Diagan’s condition, as he displayed visible signs of damage, particularly from the sixth round. Diagan signaled his inability to continue when questioned by the referee, resulting in a sixth-round technical knockout victory for Oscar Collazo due to Diagan’s inability to proceed to the seventh round.
Oscar Collazo’s triumph over Garen Diagan showcased his formidable abilities as an American/Puerto Rican fighter capable of maintaining a high pace and using it to his advantage. Holding the WBO minimumweight title, Collazo is likely to cross paths with another champion in the division, such as WBA (Super) champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong/Knockout CP Freshmart (24-0, 9 KO’s), WBC champion Panya Pradabsri (40-1, 24 KO’s), or IBF champion Daniel Valladares (26-3-1, 15 KO’s). However, Valladares is currently scheduled to defend his title against IBF interim champion Ginjiro Shigeoka (9-0, 7 KO’s).
Despite being relatively new to the professional scene and making his debut in 2021, Collazo has rapidly risen to become a world champion in just his seventh fight. His future looks promising as he continues his journey as an elite fighter, even though he’s only eight fights into his career.
