Mismatch?

INDIO, California — At the backstage of a makeshift stage at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino on Friday, Puerto Rico’s rising ring star Oscar Collazo found himself within inhaling distance of his Filipino Jayson “Striker” Vayson.

He clowned a bit upon, looking scared stiff upon realizing that Vayson and a few members of the challenger’s team appeared ready to mug him.

Collazo, the reigning World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association and The Ring magazine minimumweight titlist, immediately eased the growing tension by pulling out a tiny souvenir item.

He extended his hand to give Vayson a pin of the Puerto Rican flag.

A member of Collazo’s entourage then began distributing cute stickers to Vayson’s team.

“He seems very nice,” somebody from Vayson’s camp was overheard as saying.

The heavy-handed Collazo, unbeaten in 12 fights with nine knockouts, is a decent person: approachable and fun-loving.

But everything ends there.

In the ring, Collazo is a beast. He is ruthless.

No wonder he is being groomed to become as a fighter who rightfully belongs on the pound-for-pound list.

Vayson, if he doesn’t rise to the occasion, will end up as Collazo’s fourth Filipino victim after Vic Saludar, Melvin Jerusalem and Garen Diagan.

Just about everyone believes Collazo is simply too good and too strong for Vayson, who will be making his American debut.

“When I say I’m going to do something, I do it. Many people say that boxers in this division don’t knock out or don’t have power, but I’m making a difference. I’m knocking out my opponents and starting to make a name for myself in the boxing world,” said the 28-year-old southpaw who stepped in at 104.6 pounds during Friday’s official weigh-in.

“We’ll probably see another knockout on Saturday. We have a good strategy. We know what we have to do and which hand to use to hurt him. It’ll only be a matter of time before the knockout comes.”

But Vayson insists he doesn’t see himself assuming the role of a sacrificial lamb Saturday night.

“We came to fight, not just to fight for the world title. We came to win,” said the 27-year-old from Veruela in Agusan del Sur.

Vayson swears he feels a strong urge to score an upset so he could return to the Philippines holding three titlebelts.

Allan Alegria, Vayson’s lead trainer, is keeping his feet planted on the ground.

“We know who we are up against with. Collazo is a very good fighter but we have things that we believe can make a difference on top of the ring,” said the veteran cornerman.

“We are ready for Collazo. We can box him if that’s what it would take to beat him but we are ready to go exchange with him as well is that’s the only way to beat him,” Alegria said.

Tapped to act as referee is Californian Thomas Taylor, who was the third man on the ring in the Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford unification super-middleweight match last week in Las Vegas.

Taylor also worked Manny Pacquiao’s draw with Mario Barrios last July.

If the fight goes the distance, the scorecards of Fernando Villareal, Zachary Young and Rudy Barragan, all from California, will decide the outcome.

Joining Alegria in the corner work are Brico Santig, Carlos Costa of Panama and Los Angeles-based cutman Daisuke Okabe.