Oscar Collazo vs Neider Valdez: Live streaming results and reactions!

Oscar Collazo steps back into the ring tonight, but will not be defending his pair of 105 lb world titles.

Instead, the Puerto Rican moves up to flyweight to face late replacement opponent Neider Valdez, who was signed to fill in for Joey Canoy on Wednesday, after Canoy had visa issues. Collazo vs Canoy was set to be for Collazo’s WBA and WBO titles at minimumweight, but instead we get a flyweight main event and a look at what Collazo may have for a potential move up in weight.

We’ll be here with live results and reactions, fight-by-fight, in this post, as well as live discussion during each fight down in the comments section. Join us!

Collazo vs Valdez live results and reactions

Oscar Collazo def. Neider Valdez by TKO in Round 2

Not really worth having done in some respects, but hey, Valdez stepping in on short notice allowed the show to go on and everyone up and down the card got to fight and get paid. So it is what it is. That really is my reaction here. Collazo scored three knockdowns in the second round and Valdez clearly wanted his corner to stop the fight — which they did — while telling referee Thomas Taylor that yes, of course, he wanted to continue. He did not, though. And I don’t blame him. He’s a club fighter who fought a top 10 pound-for-pound guy on short notice.

Yair Gallardo def. Buneet Bisla by Unanimous Decision

Official Scores: 96-93, 97-92, 98-91 for Gallardo
BLH Unofficial Score: 96-93 for Gallardo

Gallardo stays undefeated, now 12-0 (9 KO), but Bisla gave us a useful look at where Gallardo’s upside may be lacking, at least for the time being. The good news for the person that actually matters, which is Gallardo, is he got a look at what’s going to have to be better going forward if he wants to become a real contender. It wasn’t the most exciting fight and it’s hard to be all that excited about Gallardo’s prospects immediately following it, but it was the sort of work that can make a fighter better.

Bisla (14-2, 7 KO) simply being a calm professional in the ring seemed by itself something Gallardo wasn’t so used to encountering, and those guys are inevitable, no matter who you are. Eventually, opponents stop panicking when you hit them, even if you hurt them a little. The 28-year-old Bisla is now 0-2 in the United States, to go along with 10-0 in Canada and 4-0 in Mexico, but he provided a valuable service and gave this an honest effort.

Gallardo did score a flash knockdown early, but his best shot was this one, which maybe should have been ruled a knockdown but wasn’t:

Ruslan Abdullaev def. Orestes Velazquez by TKO in Round 5

Velazquez (8-2, 7 KO) hadn’t fought in over two years following his first pro loss, which came in a fight where he would have been heavily favored. No clue when or if we’ll see him again after this one. He got into survival mode so Abdullaev (5-0, 3 KO) went to the body, and that was that.

Joshua Edwards def. Garreth Payton by TKO in Round 2

Todd Grisham called this a “nothingburger,” and while I do not care for that term, personally, yeah, that’s about it.

Cayden Griffiths def. Alan Crisosto by TKO in Round 3

Standard non-test, glorified spar. What do you want me to do? Lie? I don’t work for the promoter or the streaming outfit, I’ve got no reason for that. I think Griffiths (9-0, 8 KO) looked about as good and made about as much progress in his career as is possible to do fighting someone as hopelessly overmatched as Crisosto (12-7, 8 KO). He sored a knockdown in the third and Crisosto’s corner stopped it a bit later.

This was Griffiths’ first scheduled eight-rounder and he says he wasn’t totally happy with the performance and wants to face some better competition. Enough to like in his post-fight interview, really, you like to hear a prospect eager to improve and get back to it after a fight like this.

How to watch Collazo vs Valdez

Streaming: DAZN (subscription)

Location: Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, CA, USA

Collazo vs Valdez full card and running order