At a crowded celebration, the new WBO minimumweight champion Oscar 'El Pupilo' Collazo received his world belt from WBO president Francisco 'Paco' Varcárcel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Collazo won the title last Saturday, May 27th at the Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California and became [according to the WBO] the 65th world champion in the history of Puerto Rico. Collazo accomplished this via technical knockout of former champion Melvin Jerusalem who retired in his corner at the end of the seventh round. Collazo made history by becoming a champion in just seven pro fights, a Puerto Rican record.
Valcarcel lauded Collazo, “at the WBO we are very happy with our new champion, a compatriot from Puerto Rico. He is a very talented young man, very dedicated and he showed it by defeating and winning the championship against Melvin Jerusalem of the Philippines in forceful fashion. Oscar Collazo is very talented and we are only seeing him grow."
Collazo gave an extensive message where he made sure not to leave out any of the people who helped him on the road to becoming a champion. he gave special thanks to his parent for being with him every day and being his greatest support. “I am extremely happy to see all this and I cannot believe it, I have worked very hard to obtain this title. I want to thank my family, my parents, my wife and my team. [Also thanks to] Miguel Cotto Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and the WBO for guiding me as they have. I am a champion and now I will work harder to defend it for the pride of my family, my town of Villalba and all of Puerto Rico."
