LOS ANGELES — There is simply no turning back.
Filipino challenger Jayson Vayson and his team checked in at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio on Wednesday afternoon after a four-hour drive from their training base in Las Vegas.
Set to battle defending champion Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila), Vayson was joined by his lead trainer Allan Alegria and chief handler Brico Santig in the 275-mile journey from Sin City.
Vayson, who arrived in the United States late last month, told DAILY TRIBUNE that he suffered from motion sickness and felt exhausted during the trip and was greeted by the scorching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) weather in Indio.
“I got a bit of a headache and felt a little tired, too,” the 27-year-old Vayson, nicknamed “Striker,” said upon checking in, obviously bothered by the searing weather conditions way hotter than Las Vegas.
The southpaw Collazo, who holds the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association and even The Ring magazine minimumweight title belts, actually came a few days ahead of Vayson.
He broke camo in Puerto Rico and touched down in Indio last Sunday.
Since he was early, the 28-year-old Collazo managed to work out in a gym in the famed Coachella Valley.
Before hitting the road, Vayson trained one last time at the Knuckleheads Boxing Gym owned by the father-and-son duo of Sean and Brendan Gibbons.
Since they are already on site, not much is going to be done but make the 105-pound limit for the official weigh in on Friday.
Meanwhile, the official press conference happens Thursday at 1 p.m. (4 a.m. of Friday in Manila) with the two combatants sizing each other up for the very first time.
Although Vayson will be fighting for the first time in seven years at 105 pounds, his team is upbeat that the Agusan del Sur-born puncher will eventually conquer the scales.
“He is still eating,” Santig, the manager, said.
Collazo, holding a perfect 12-0-0 win-loss-draw record with nine knockouts, is the huge betting favorite given his talent and recognition.
But Vayson, sporting a 14-1-1 mark with eight knockouts, insists that he is going all-out for an upset win that could easily rank among 2025’s most shocking.