Vic Saludar loses to Puerto Rican foe in title eliminator

Oscar Collazo wins by UD decision over Vic Saludar.

MANILA, Philippines — Vic Saludar yielded to unbeaten Puerto Rican Oscar Collazo by unanimous decision on Sunday (Manila time) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The Filipino boxer knocked Collazo down in the sixth round with a right uppercut. But the latter stood his ground and got the better of Saludar for the remainder of the fight to garner scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 118-110, and win the World Boxing Association (WBA) world strawweight title eliminator. 

Saludar ANSWERS BACK! Drops Collazo in the 7th!#GarciaFortuna | on @daznboxing pic.twitter.com/KgVX4z1q9w

— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) July 16, 2022

The 25-year-old Puerto Rican, who is under Miguel Cotto Promotions, earned his fifth victory, including four knockouts, in as many matches. His recent victory prior to this match was a third round knockout of Ecuador’s Pedro Villegas last December 3.

Collazo also took down Saludar in Round 6 but the Filipino beat the standing-eight and exacted revenge on the former.

Saludar suffered his third loss in his last five matches, following a split-decision defeat to Dominican Erick Rosa last December 21.

The Cagayan de Oro City native slid to a 21-6 card with 11 KOs.