“I don’t let that affect me,” Collazo said at Thursday’s final press conference. “Golden Boy did the work. They told me to stay relaxed. I did my job, made weight, and stayed relaxed.
“When we’re in camp, we don’t exactly train for the fighter. We spar lefties, we spar righties, we spar aggressive fighters, we fight people in the back foot. So things like this don’t bother me.”
Collazo believes he will be able to make the necessary adjustments once the opening bell rings.
“We could do the same strategy with each fighter,” Oscar said. “Give me one or two rounds, and I got them.”
The unbeaten champion enters Saturday’s bout with an undefeated record of 14-0 with 11 knockouts and is widely regarded as one of boxing’s top fighters in the lower weight classes.
Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez revealed that finding a replacement opponent for Collazo was not an easy task once Canoy withdrew.
“Trust me, not too many people are running to fight Oscar Collazo,” Gomez said. “It’s always gonna be hard to get someone to fight a world-class fighter last minute.”
Gomez also disclosed that Golden Boy has already discussed bigger opportunities for Collazo beyond the minimumweight division.
“One of the things we talked about is maybe him moving up and fighting Ricardo Sandoval at 112,” Gomez said. “Collazo does want to unify and get all the belts. I don’t think it will be next, but we have talked about it.”
Collazo and Sandoval are both promoted by Golden Boy. Sandoval recently positioned himself for a title opportunity at flyweight, making a future meeting between the two champions a possibility if Collazo decides to move up in weight.
Collazo faces Valdez on Saturday, June 20, at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, with the card streaming live worldwide on DAZN.
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