Boxing

Collazo makes Valdez’s job easier

Published

4 months ago

June 22, 2026

Author: Sean Crose

On Saturday night, Oscar Colazzo decided to move up to the flyweight division. His hard-won world title wasn’t on the line because he was moving to a up-to-date division, but the stakes were still high for the popular Puerto Rican fighter. Things started badly before Collazo slipped between the ropes. For Neider Valdez, Saturday’s opponent, Collazo replaced him at the last minute. Collazo’s scheduled opponent in the 10-round bout, Joey Canoy, had visa issues and, as a result, Collazo later had to jump to a different weight class. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but both Colazzo and Valdez realized the players were struggling.

Bantamweight champion Colazzo threw himself with a southpaw in the first. Valdez, however, was not overwhelmed by the world champion, his own dedication and landing. Palazzo’s impressive left shot knocked out Valdez early in the second. With that said, the man was able to quickly get back on his feet to hit the mat once again. Another series of shots knocked down Valdez for the third time. Once again he was able to get up, but his corner thought better of it and stopped the fight.

The cut low of the fight was simply a demonstration of the difference between the champion and his last-minute successor. Valdez deserved credit for showing up and giving his all, but he was wildly classless. One wondered if he would even be able to represent an airline division. The DAZN broadcast team seemed dissatisfied with Valdez’s behavior, feeling that Valdez pulled out of the fight early. That may or may not have been true, but either way it was solid to imagine Valdez having a good night to himself.

“I feel great,” Collazo said later. He had a good reason for this. He successfully won his flyweight debut in less than three rounds. “I’m ready to make history,” Collazo added. “He’s the biggest little man in the boxing world today,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

There was no doubt that Colazzo looked excellent, but the quality of his opposition was so impoverished that you have to wonder how Colazzo would have fared against stronger competition in the league. Make no mistake, Valdez was a replacement opponent who wasn’t expected to have much of a chance at first. Of course, there was a chance for him to shock the world. But he just couldn’t defy expectations in such an obvious way.

There is no doubt that Colazzo is an excellent fighter. He is aggressive, hits solid and exudes confidence. It’s not effortless for anyone. Indeed, he may be one of the more hard fighters to beat in boxing right now. Oscar De La Hoya certainly had plans for him, and after Saturday’s performance, it’s effortless to see why. If he continues playing at this pace, he will have a brilliant future ahead of him.

Smaller fighters like Colazzo don’t always get a lot of love from boxing fans, but there’s a lot to like in the smaller divisions. Those who fight at featherweight have an incredible skill set and very keen and correct striking. The pace at lower weights is speedy, and the players themselves show a lot of fortitude. Fighters like Michael Carbajal and even Manny Pacquiao have helped erase the image of the little fighter that no one wants to see. Indeed, smaller weight divisions can be seen significantly on television. Perhaps that’s why De La Hoya has so much faith in Collazo.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

4 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley’s Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Another day, another Zuffa signee losing his belt for shirking his responsibilities. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the sanctioning body has denied middleweight champion Denzel Bentley’s appeal for a voluntary defense, giving him 24 hours to commit to facing mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.

Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) was the beneficiary of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s failed drug test and subsequent emigration to the super middleweight division, as the move elevated the interim belt he’d claimed against Endry Saavendra in April to the real deal. That came with conditions, namely a mandated showdown with Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) that failed to produce a a contract.

As for who’ll fight Hernandez for it, Vito Mielnicki Jr sits behind him at no. 2, followed by an otherwise-occupied Tim TszyuMichael Zerafa (lmao), and Fiodor Czerkaszyn. We’ll let you know as soon as an enterprising bachelor steps up.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

4 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley's Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Boxing

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxings Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Published

5 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxing's Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is back on the scene with a new knee! And now that he’s getting around again, he was able to catch up with Fight Hub TV to give his perspective on what’s been going on in the boxing business as of late, particularly as it pertains to Zuffa Boxing who appear to be in a state of flux. Check out what he had to say below!

Arum on Zuffa’s place in boxing landscape

“When you look at Zuffa, they are hoping to do what they’re doing with Saudi money and the Saudis have poured a lot of money into the sport and for a while were backing Zuffa, so Zuffa felt emboldened to offer big [money] to good fighters like Shakur Stevenson. Now, apparently the Saudis, Turki and Sela have gotten the word from up high in Saudi Arabia, ‘hey, this money is not going to be unlimited, you’ve got to cut down,’ or there’s no money — I don’t know what they’ve told them.

“So the Saudis are clearly pulling back and who knows if they’re going to be involved in boxing after this year. They’ve already, apparently, sold Ring Magazine to DAZN. So, if the Saudi money isn’t there, Zuffa is not going to spend its own money to promote fights because they have announced to their shareholders that they would not do that. And if they start doing it, then they leave themselves open to a major shareholder suit.

“So, again, we have to see what’s going to happen. There’s no animosity, people are doing what they feel is best for them and that’s business. How this all turns out, we’re going to have to see next year and the years after that.”

On whether he thinks Zuffa has done a good job thus far

“What does it mean to have done a good job? If somebody gave me a barrel of money to put on fights, would I be doing a good job? Sure. But anybody would be doing a good job. I mean, give Oscar this kind of money, give Eddie this kind of money.

“So it’s not a question of a good job, the question is can they make matches having a limited budget that is limited by the financial viability of the fight, not what somebody from the outside is pouring into it. That’s doing a big, good job — making it work for them, for the public, for the fighters without the fighters outside help putting in all this money without any way to get it back.”

On Shakur splitting with Zuffa before one fight together

“Once they realized there was no money coming from the Saudis to fund a $15M fight deal, then what do you do? If you can get out of that contract, you get out of it. Did they get out, did it cost them any money to get out? I don’t know. But, again, to pay Shakur $15M…financially it’s not viable. So, it is what it is. And once the Saudis really left the message that they got the word from The Boss that this unlimited tap is going to stop, it was bound to happen.”

On the Shakur vs Devin fight falling apart

“The fight fell apart, but essentially it fell apart is because DAZN had promised [Devin] Haney a certain amount of money, Zuffa had promised Shakur a certain amount of money, and it wasn’t a match because that money didn’t exist in the fight that they would have…Would the fight have justified the money being put up? Because otherwise nobody wants to break their ass doing a fight, promoting a fight, and ending up facing an absolute possibility that you’re going to lose money.”

On his prediction for the business once the Saudi money evaporates

“Looking at the past when this happened, and in boxing it happens all the time, the market then settles and fighters fight for what’s available and we get some very good fights that still go on and life continues. But how it’s going to come out after this, where we had so much money being put into the sport not existing, how is the sport going to continue? It’s going to continue, but how is it going to continue, I don’t know.

“Remember, [Al] Haymon came in when he had that deal with the mutual fund with hundreds of millions of dollars, and all he accomplished was pissing it away. So, again, I have the experience and I’ve been around enough not to say definitively what’s going to happen because I don’t know like nobody else does. I have an idea but again, it’s just an idea and not worth talking about. All I know is that the sport will continue, there will be great fights being made. How everybody will be compensated remains to be seen but that’s in the future.“

On Ryan Garcia saying he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather for the WBC title

“Will people be interested in it? I don’t know. I know Floyd [Mayweather] needs the money ‘cause he’s pissed away tons of the money that he made. I mean, he blames Haymon for that, he blames this for that, but ultimately I blame him for pissing it away. Will Garcia vs Mayweather generate money? Will it generate enough money to satisfy these guys? I don’t know. I think there will be limited interest in a fight where you have a young guy at the peak of his boxing prowess fighting an old man, which Mayweather has now become.”

On the Eddie Hearn vs Dana White beef over promoting Fury vs AJ, and Hearn insisting White can’t be involved

“Well, that’s right. Eddie [Hearn] is correct. Frank [Warren] and I have a contract with [Tyson] FuryEddie has a contract with [Anthony] Joshua. Dana has a contract with nobody. But if Dana wanted to be involved with the fight, be my guest. I mean, the money is the money. The Saudis are putting up the bulk of the money in that fight. They’ll do a good gate, get back some of it. But again, what do I care? What should anybody care?”