Oscar Collazo remains unified, unbeaten, and untested. And it might be because the man who should have been across the ring from him on Sunday—Filipino rising star Joey Canoy—never got there.
The Puerto Rican minimumweight champion dispatched last-minute replacement Neider Valdez Aguilar of Mexico in the second round on Sunday at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, sending the challenger to the canvas three times before the referee waved it off. It was a clinical, emphatic performance from Collazo—who is now 15-0 with his WBA, WBO, and Ring Magazine minimumweight titles intact—but the result felt hollow before the first bell ever rang.
The fight that was supposed to happen was Joey Canoy versus Collazo. It did not.
Heartbroken Canoy Sidelined by Visa Issue
The 32-year-old General Santos City native had spent years building toward this moment. Eight straight victories. A first genuine world title shot finally within reach. He had fought in South Africa and Japan before, so the idea of fighting abroad was not foreign to him—but the United States proved a different kind of obstacle. Canoy could not secure his visa in time, and the biggest opportunity of his professional life was wiped from the calendar with the fight days away.
He broke the news himself on Facebook, with the kind of quiet dignity that makes the gut punch land even harder.
“Sa nag aabang na laban ko ngayon June 20. Kanselado po mga ka idol. Laban lang mga ka idol hindi mahinaan ng loob. May plano si God,” Canoy wrote.
God’s plan, at the moment, is a postponement. But in boxing, postponements do not always become reschedules. Collazo, unbeaten and active, will have mandatory obligations and promotional timelines of his own. Canoy, now 25-5-2, will need to stay busy, stay relevant, and hope that a second opportunity presents itself before the window closes for good.
Canoy Misses Chance, Collazo Moves Forward
The cruelty of the situation is in the buildup. Canoy did everything right over his eight-fight winning streak to earn the mandatory berth. He navigated the political landscape of the lower weight divisions, accumulated the right wins, and positioned himself for a shot that fighters at 105 pounds chase their entire careers. Then a visa—a bureaucratic obstacle with nothing to do with his ability to fight—ended the dream before the opening bell.
Collazo, for his part, did what champions are supposed to do with a replacement opponent. Aguilar lasted barely a round and a half, floored three times before the stoppage, making it clear he was not the intended challenger. Sunday’s result was a statement of dominance, but it answered no questions about how Collazo would handle the specific challenge Canoy poses—an aggressive pressure fighter with a punishing left uppercut and nothing to lose.
That question remains unanswered. Whether boxing gives Canoy another shot to answer it is now the only thing that matters.
