Jesus Haro is ready to make the most of fighting Oscar Collazo

MERCED, California – Jesus Haro is ready to make the most of fighting Oscar Collazo.

The two will meet on Saturday night for Collazo’s unified strawweight titles as the co-feature of a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Haro, 13-3 (2 KOs), is a 23-time national champion, with an amateur record of 100-8. Yet, he lost his pro debut when he went pro at 17. Needless to say, the 23-year-old from Merced, California, has taken his lumps and bumps in the sport. 

He is 2-2 in his last four fights, but believes this is his moment. A fight was previously offered with Puerto Rico’s Collazo, 13-0 (10 KOs), but he couldn’t take the fight because he had another fight scheduled. 

Still, the strawweight contender couldn’t help but think what could’ve been.

“A month ago, I was driving back from Reno, Nevada, where I was doing some running,” Haro told BoxingScene. “I thought to myself, where would I be if I had taken the Collazo fight? Then, two days later, I got the call for this fight.” 

Haro has an uphill battle, as Collazo, the lineal 105lbs champ and WBO and WBA titleholder, is considered by many a pound-for-pound level talent. 

Collazo is so good, in fact, some in Puerto Rico even compared him to the legendary Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. Collazo, a 29-year-old from Villalba, is on a three-fight knockout streak, with his last win being a knockout of Jayson Vayson. 

“This is the moment we have been waiting for since my first amateur fight,” Haro said. “This is what it led to.”

Collazo was originally rumored to rematch Melvin Jerusalem. 

The bout would have represented a three-belt unification showdown, as the Philippines’ Jerusalem holds the IBF strawweight title. Collazo stopped him in May 2023 to begin his WBO reign and was prepared to run it back before plans shifted for both boxers. 

Ultimately, it worked to Haro’s benefit.

“Why be in this sport if you don’t want to fight the best?” Haro said. “People are going to be shocked and remember my name.”

Haro was one of California’s best amateurs, but he hasn’t made the transition cleanly to the pros. 

Now, he is a veteran, and hopes that the path he took to this place and the experience he gained during his childhood can serve him against a potential all-time great in Collazo. 

“It has been a hard journey,” Haro said. “What doesn’t break you, makes you stronger, and it definitely made me stronger.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.