Oscar Collazo must’ve thought Christmas came early when referee Thomas Taylor called a halt to his bout with Jayson Vayson in Round 7 on Saturday night.
Collazo retained his WBA and WBO minimumweight titles in the Golden Boy/DAZN main event from the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, after the chief second in Vayson’s corner jumped onto the ring apron in Round 7 to signal Taylor to stop the bout.
DAZN’s unofficial scorer, Chris Mannix, had Collazo up by just one point, 57-56, at the time of the stoppage. The bout was fiercely competitive and proved to be the toughest of Collazo’s career, with only a controversial first-round knockdown for Collazo separating the pair, making the corner’s decision baffling.
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Collazo (13-0, 10 KOs) knocked Vayson down late in the opener with what appeared to be a southpaw right hook counter around Vayson’s jab, although the replay later showed that it was in fact a forearm.
Vayson (14-2-1, 8 KOs), however, didn’t allow Collazo’s early success to affect him. He forced Collazo back in Round 2 with a right hand and continued to land clean on the champ for much of the second frame, showing Collazo that he had the heavier hands.
The challenger was effectively countering Puerto Rico’s Collazo in Round 3 as Collazo attempted to close the distance so he could force his pressure style onto the fight. Vayson kept him honest with right hands down the middle. Collazo landed a left uppercut on the belt line in the second minute of the frame, which noticeably impacted Vayson.
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In Round 4, however, it was Vasyon’s turn to strike gold downstairs. The Filipino hurt Collazo with a right uppercut to the midsection and continued to push the champ back. Vayson continued his success in Round 5, connecting to the body and catching Collazo at close range later in the stanza.
Collazo’s pressure began to take a toll on Vasyon in the sixth and seventh rounds. The champ had quickened his feet and was backing Vayson up with regularity, throwing in combinations, forcing Vayson was becoming more reluctant to counter. In Round 7, particularly, the challenger’s body language depicted how the pressure was affecting him. It was Collazo’s best moment of the fight, yet still not grounds to justify stopping what was a very close contest.
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In the night’s co-feature, Gabriela Fundora battered Alexas Kubicki for a seventh-round stoppage win to retain her undisputed flyweight title.
Referee Ray Corona had Kubicki (13-2, 2 KOs) checked by the ringside doctor before the beginning of Round 7 and told the challenger that he would stop the bout if Kubicki continued to take heavy punishment. Around the halfway point in the round, Kubicki was being pushed back by Fundora and was told by Corona, “You’ve got to show me something.”
Fundora (17-0, 9 KOs), Uncrowned’s No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer, took that as a sign to increase the pressure. She landed a four-punch combination immediately after, including a strong left hand, which prompted Corona to call an end to proceedings.
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Kubicki began the contest with the intention of closing the distance on the much taller Fundora and making it a close-range fight. She paid the price early for staying in punching range with no head movement as Fundora found a home for power shots on her chin, especially with the right hook in the opener.
In Round 2, it was the left hand down the middle that couldn’t miss for the champion. Fundora increased her combination punching and began her front-foot pressure in the frame as Kubicki’s eagerness to trade with Fundora became short-lived.
Kubicki landed her first significant punch of the fight, a right hand, early in Round 3. Fundora made sure Kubicki’s success was a one-off, though. She shrugged off the punch and continued to walk Kubicki down, wobbling her with a right hook to left hand two-piece just after the one-minute mark.
Kubicki’s face began to show the impact of Fundora’s punching power in Round 5. The Canadian was marked up and had reddening on her face, as Fundora continued her assault of left hands and flurries on the stationary Kubicki.
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Fundora rocked Kubicki’s head back early in Round 6. The pro-Fundora crowd cheered as she unloaded on Kubicki; however, just as Fundora looked to be closing in on a stoppage win over the beaten Kubicki, the challenger winged in an overhand right, which momentarily quietened the crowd and kept Kubicki in the fight for a little longer.
Round 7 looked much like the six before it — one-sided for Fundora and brutal for Kubicki. And it was in this frame that referee Corona chose to make a compassionate call and save the challenger from further punishment.
Elsewhere on the card, welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (9-0, 8 KOs) became the first fighter to stop Eduardo Hernandez (8-5, 5 KOs). Iriarte dropped Hernandez with a pulverizing left hook body shot in the final 15 seconds of the opening round.
Hernandez rose to his feet and continued to take a beating until a left hook upstairs sent him onto the canvas again in the final minute of Round 3. This time, referee Thomas Taylor didn’t bother to take up the count.
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Also on the card, Ruslan Abdullaev (3-0, 1 KO) defeated Kevin Johnson (12-8, 8 KOs) by unanimous decision (80-72, 79-73, 79-73) in a welterweight bout, and in the DAZN opener, super welterweight Grant Flores (12-0, 9 KOs) floored Courtney Pennington (17-10-3, 7 KOs) in Round 7 en route to a unanimous decision win (80-71, 80-71, 79-72).
Main card
WBA & WBO minimumweight titles: Oscar Collazo def. Jayson Vayson via seventh-round TKO (corner stoppage)
Undisputed flyweight titles: Gabriela Fundora def. Alexas Kubicki via seventh-round TKO | Watch video
Welterweight: Ruslan Abdullaev def. Kevin Johnson via unanimous decision (80-72, 79-73, 79-73)
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Welterweight: Joel Iriarte def. Eduardo Hernandez via third-round TKO | Watch video
Super welterweight: Grant Flores def. Courtney Pennington via unanimous decision (80-71, 80-71, 79-72)
Prelims
Featherweight: Gael Cabrera def. Judy Flores via first-round KO | Watch video
Super middleweight: Javid Ramirez Beltran def. Brian Agustin. Arregui via unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54, 60-54)
Flyweight: Adriana Pineiro def. Gloria Munguilla via unanimous decision (79-73, 79-73, 80-72)