By REYNALD MAGALLON
International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran had a simple yet meaningful response as unified champion Oscar Collazo seemed to have issued a challenge against the hard-punching Filipino.
The Puerto Rican star, who currently holds the World Boxing Organization (WBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and The Ring belts in the 105-pound division, posted an AI-generated photo on his Instagram account, indicating that the IBF strap is his next target.
“We’re not defending a legacy—we’re expanding it. Three titles in hand,” wrote Collazo, who has long been vocal in his bid of unifying the division.
Interestingly, the two remaining belts in the weight class are held by Taduran and another Filipino in Melvin Jerusalem who has the World Boxing Council (WBC) belt.
Taduran, for his part, is up for the challenge and made it known also through social media.
“Let’s make it happen,” wrote Taduran while sharing a post about Collazo’s challenge.
It can be recalled that the camps of the two proud fighters actually engaged for a possible unification fight early in the year but did not materialize.
The two ended up going their own separate ways with Collazo defending his belt against Jesus Haro last March and Taduran taking on Gustavo Perez Alvarez last April.
Both fighters won via stoppage Collazo in the sixth round and Taduran in seventh.
