Oscar Collazo Unifies Minimumweight With TKO of Thammanoon Niyomtrong

Oscar Collazo (11-0, 8 KOs) repeatedly dropped Thammanoon Niyomtrong (25-1, 9 KOs) to become the unified minimumweight champion.

The official time of stoppage was 1:29 of round seven. With the victory, Collazo now adds the WBA title to his collection. He became WBO champion with a stoppage win over Melvin Jerusalem in May last year.

The fight took place on the undercard of a co-promotion between Golden Boy Promotions and BOXXER at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Boxing fans around the world could catch the action live on DAZN, TrillerTV and the Golden Boy Promotions YouTube channel. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez and Chris Billam-Smith are the event’s headliner with both putting their cruiserweight titles at stake.

The Ramírez vs. Billam-Smith card (also called Latino Night) is part of Riyadh Season, a state-funded entertainment and sports festival. The Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority is responsible for its organization.

Oscar Collazo Unifies 105 With TKO of Thammanoon Niyomtrong

Fight Recap

The opening round saw both fighters move around each other and throw out the jab consistently. Occasionally, they would throw a power shot, but was nothing particularly damaging was landing. This was how the fight played out in the early rounds for the most part.

Following the third, Collazo began having more success imposing his style. He was coming forward and landing near equally to the head and body. Niyomtrong had his pockets of success as he attempted to close the distance, but was otherwise struggling to deal with the Puerto Rican’s pressure.

A right hook from Collazo in round six sent his opponent to the canvas. Niyomtrong got up and made it out of the round, but the fight’s end was near. In the seventh, another right hook sent Niyomtrong down again with over two minutes to go in the round. The Thai got up, but was later hit by a right hook, left uppercut and right hook to the body that sent him to the canvas for a third time. At that point, referee Ricky Gonzalez put an end to proceedings, giving Collazo the technical knockout win.

DOWN he goes for a SECOND TIME!!

🔗: https://t.co/MTP8yGOf9T#LatinoNight | #RiyadhSeason | LIVE Nov. 16 | FREE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/azcC9zwnuw

— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) November 16, 2024

DOWN he goes for a SECOND TIME!!

🔗: https://t.co/MTP8yGOf9T#LatinoNight | #RiyadhSeason | LIVE Nov. 16 | FREE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/azcC9zwnuw

— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) November 16, 2024

Post-fight Interview

Oscar Collazo

“A lot of people doubted,” said Collazo. “A lot of people doubted. The reigning champion, much respect for him [Niyomtrong]. Everybody say [I] only [have] 10 fights, [I] can’t make it. But look at where we at. We the king now in the 105 lbs for a little island. It’s called Puerto Rico.”

Read More – Title Fights From Around the World: Oscar Collazo Defeats Gerardo Zapata in Dominant Fashion

“[I just had to] listen to my team, wait patiently for the shot. You know he’s a veteran. He know what to do…just wait patiently for my shot. I heard my corner [say] ‘get that right hook in’ and we got it. Hit him right on the button.”

Other Undercard Results

Oscar Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Botirzhon Akhmedov (10-4, 9 KOs). Scores for the 10-round welterweight clash were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94. (Akhmedov may be 10-4, but each of those losses were close fights that could have been draws or wins for him. In the end, he leaves Riyadh with an incredibly deceiving record).

Ziyad Almaayouf (6-0-1, 1 KO) and Juan Garcia (5-6-1, 0 KOs) fought to a majority draw in their six-round welterweight fight. While one judge had Almaayouf winning 58-56, the other two saw it 57-57.