Oscar Collazo withdraws from Ricardo Sandoval title fight with rib injury

Oscar Collazo has withdrawn from his October 10 challenge of unified flyweight champion Ricardo Rafael Sandoval after suffering a rib injury in training.

The fight, scheduled for Wintrust Arena in Chicago, is expected to be rearranged, although no replacement date has been announced.

Collazo (15-0, 12 KOs), The Ring, WBA and WBO strawweight champion, was due to move up two divisions to challenge Sandoval (27-2, 18 KOs) for the WBA and WBC titles at 112lbs. The unbeaten Puerto Rican is ranked No. 10 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list and had pushed for the chance to become a champion in a second weight division.

“This is a fight I wanted deeply,” Collazo said in a statement released by Golden Boy Promotions. “As a boxer, I pushed for this matchup to happen because I wanted to face this challenge and because I know how much it means to everyone who has been waiting to see it.

“My team and I have worked with seriousness and commitment throughout this camp, preparing to the fullest to be ready for fight day.”

Collazo said he still hoped the bout could be rescheduled once he had recovered.

“Unfortunately, in high-level professional boxing, situations beyond our control can arise,” he said. “Although today we have to accept this reality, this isn’t the end. My wish, and my team’s, is that we can find a new date and that this fight can happen, as we’ve all wanted, in front of you.”

Sandoval won his two flyweight belts by split decision over Kenshiro Teraji in Yokohama last July. The Californian has also seen two other scheduled contests fall through this year: a June 6 appearance in Sheffield was lost because of an injury to his opponent, while a planned bout with Yoali Mosqueda on the June 20 Collazo-Joey Canoy card did not take place.

Collazo’s WBO status unresolved

Collazo’s withdrawal also leaves the WBO with a decision to make at strawweight.

Ryusei Matsumoto and Russell Acosta Silveira are due to contest the interim WBO strawweight title on September 27 at Toyota Arena Tokyo in Koto-Ku, on the undercard of Takuma Inoue and Tenshin Nasukawa’s fight for the WBC bantamweight title.

Under the arrangement in place before Collazo’s injury, the winner of Matsumoto-Acosta was due to be elevated to full champion once Collazo entered the ring against Ricardo Sandoval on October 10 in Chicago, where their flyweight title fight was scheduled as the co-main event to Floyd Schofield Jr. vs Lucas Bahdi.

The WBO has yet to clarify whether the Matsumoto-Acosta bout will be upgraded following Collazo’s withdrawal, or whether Collazo will retain his strawweight title while efforts are made to reschedule the Sandoval fight.

Golden Boy’s Chicago card will proceed despite Collazo’s withdrawal. Floyd Schofield (19-0, 13 KOs) and Lucas Bahdi (20-0, 15 KOs) are scheduled to contest the vacant WBA lightweight title in the main event, with DAZN streaming the show from DePaul University’s Wintrust Arena.