Oscar Collazo retained his flyweight world titles in bizarre fashion after Jayson Vayson’s corner stopped the fight in the seventh round – much to the surprise of the Philippines fighter.
With Vayson under pressure but competing gamely against Puerto Rico’s Collazo, his assistant trainer jumped on to the apron to prompt the referee to end the contest in Indio, California.
Vayson walked back to his corner wearing a perplexed expression as whistles and boos rang out from equally baffled members of the crowd.
The 27-year-old said he had mixed feelings on the stoppage as Collazo, 28, retained his WBA and WBO belts.
“My corner thought I was breaking. I wanted to fight. I respect the decision of the corner for the safety of the boxer,” said Vayson.
Collazo knocked Vayson down in the first round, with the challenger doing some of his best work in the fourth – performing a number of body shots.
When the fight was stopped, Collazo, who has won the first 13 fights of his career, was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards.
In the co-main, American Gabriela Fundora stopped Canada’s Alexas Kubicki to retain her undisputed flyweight title.
With Fundora continuing to deliver heavy punishment in the seventh round, the referee stopped the contest, extending the 23-year-old’s unbeaten record to 17.