Chris Colbert

His first attempt at a professional title came on September 21, 2019, against two time world title challenger Miguel Beltrán Jr. at the Rabobank Theater in Bakersfield, California. Colbert won the bout via first-round KO to capture the vacant NABA-USA lightweight title.[16]

Colbert was booked to face Jezreel Corrales for the vacant WBA interim super featherweight title on January 18, 2020.[17] Corrales was ranked #10 by the WBA at super featherweight.[18] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 116–111, 117–110 and 117–110.[19]

Colbert made his first interim title defense against Jaime Arboleda on December 12, 2020. Arboleda was ranked #4 by the WBA at super featherweight.[20] He won the fight by an eleventh-round technical knockout.[21]

Colbert made his second title defense against the one-time WBC featherweight title challenger Tugstsogt Nyambayar on July 3, 2021.[22] Nyambayar was ranked #4 by the WBA at super featherweight.[23] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 117–111, 118–110 and 118–110.[24]

On August 25, 2021, the WBA eliminated all of their interim championships, with the intent of consolidating titles across weight classes.[25] Accordingly, Colbert earned was designated as the mandatory challenger for the WBA (Regular) super featherweight champion Roger Gutiérrez. They were expect to face each other on February 26, 2022, at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada.[26] Gutiérrez withdrew from the bout two weeks before it was supposed to take place, as he tested positive for COVID-19.[27] Colbert was rescheduled to face Hector Luis Garcia,[28] in a WBA super featherweight title eliminator.[29] In a surprise upset, the unheralded Garcia dominated the heavy favorite Colbert, knocking Colbert down in the seventh round and winning a unanimous decision with judges' scorecards of 119–108 and 118–109 twice.[30]