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Philippines, 14 Aug 2025 |
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What's Three Pounds? The Collazo-Vayson Affair (Part II) By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Thu, 14 Aug 2025  Part 2: Why Jayson Vayson? I am sorry, mi hermanos, but I am not as enthusiastic as you are about the announcement that Oscar Collazo has chosen Jayson Vayson as his opponent. In his high-profile triple-minimumweight world title defense this September 20 in Indio, California, this scheduled matchup is, to me, full of red flags. First, the last time Jayson fought at minimumweight was about seven years ago, when he was still starting and making a name for himself in the paid ranks. Since 2020, Jayson has been fighting above 105 pounds, with one bout even taking place at 112 pounds, where he suffered his only career defeat thus far against Seigo Yuri Akui. Does that name ring a bell? It should, as Akui was the one who ended the lengthy reign of Artem Dalakian, who won the WBA title against Brian Viloria just before the pandemic struck. For the most part, Jayson has been fighting at light flyweight and doing very well. Before the call came from the Collazo camp, he was the top contender in the IBF at 108 pounds, with fellow Filipino Regie Suganob ranked right behind him. Vayson and Suganob were reportedly set to face each other in a world title eliminator this August, with the winner moving on to challenge the new Thai IBF titlist, Thanomsak Simsri. Talk about bad timing. What's particularly odd is that Collazo is not bereft of challengers at 105 pounds. At the WBA, he has two Japanese fighters as top contenders. And there's former WBC titlist Yudai Shigeoka, who might be looking for another shot after twice losing to Melvin Jerusalem. But then, perhaps the Collazo camp figured it would be difficult to lure those Japanese fighters away from their home soil. At the WBO, he has Ronald Chacon and a familiar foe, Vic Saludar, as the top two contenders. Chacon once tried his luck at light flyweight but lost to Suganob for the WBO Global title. Saludar gave Collazo one of his stiffest fights, with both fighters exchanging knockdowns. And if the Collazo camp were truly looking for big names in the division, there's Jerusalem and Pedro Taduran, with the extra bonus of a title unification. But they did not explore this angle, lending credence to the claim that Jerusalem was not 100 percent when they first met. Is Taduran too big and too tough for Collazo? Most likely. So why did they choose Jayson Vayson? First off, let us be reminded that the Indio event is being put on jointly by Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto to showcase the best of Latino boxing. Having their champion beaten by some "hombre from the Orient" is therefore the farthest thing from their minds. Collazo is, after all, under contract with Golden Boy Promotions. In the companion main event, they are featuring Gabriela Fundora, a triple world champion in women's boxing, in another title defense. Like her famous brother, Sebastian "The Towering Inferno" of the super welterweight division, Gabriela is being projected as the next women's boxing superstar. The perfect complement to that would be having Collazo, the new Puerto Rican boxing idol, in a title defense against someone from a higher weight class who could present a credible challenge. This would also allow Collazo to test the waters should he decide to invade the light flyweight division as a next career move. They likely figured Vayson is a credible, named opponent for "El Pupilo"—but not someone who Collazo could not handle inside the ring. Collazo wants his opponent to be aggressive and always coming at him to put his amateur-style, yet very scientific, boxing on full display. They think Jayson Vayson fits that bill. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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