Chairez brothers, Raddon, Aguirre have fights on calendar

Some fights news of the past couple of months:

Tonight, at the 801 Event Center in Salt Lake City, there is a boxing card and undefeated professional boxers/brothers Ignacio and Gabriel Chairez are scheduled to meet opponents.

Tomorrow night in Denver, Colo., at the National Western Complex, Kaecy Raddon fights in a 165-pound Sparta Combat League Muy Thai title belt. Raddon, along with Utahn Jarrett Kelton, recently competed internationally for the U.S. Kickboxing team. Kelton, by the way, recently won the pro 170-pound kickboxing belt at the inaugural Mountain Force Kickboxing promotion, in Logan.

This Thursday night, Dec. 6, at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif., super welterweight Christian Aguirre (seen above at left in an earlier bout) meets undefeated pro and former international amateur star Andreas Katzourakis in the top bout of the card. Aguirre, 8-3, scored a KO win over a previously undefeated boxer, Joey Alday Jr., at The Hangar earlier in the fall. The card is scheduled to be streamed on Facebook Live. SoCal Fights is the FB page. According to boxrec.com, Aguirre's last five opponents have met with with combined records of 31-1-1.
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Zac Cavender, a Tooele MMA heavyweight who had a lot of success as an amateur with Steelfist and Fierce Fighting Championships, continued that success in the pro ranks in mid November, scoring a win in his pro debut at a Final Fight Championships card.

Utah amateur MMA fighter Brittany Guillemin traveled to Nevada for a Tuff N Uff card, suffering a defeat.

SteelFist had a fight card on Nov. 16. Here are the results. On the card, local amateur Trevor Mortimer scored a stoppage win over Brandon Lemmings. It was Mortimer's second straight win. Sadly, this past week Mortimer died. He turned 24 on Nov. 27. We express our sadness and prayers for Trevor, his family and friends.

Fierce Fighting Championships had an MMA card on Oct. 27 in Price. Here are the results. In an ongoing 155 pound pro tournament, Thiago Alves and Bobby King won semi-final tournament bouts and will meet in an upcoming championship bout.

Another SteelFist card is scheduled for January 5. Pro bouts include Joe Rodriguez versus Hank Weiss and Kaytlin Neil versus Andrea Miller. Amateur bouts include Alonzo Salas versus Aldyn Ashcraft and an amateur title bout, 135 pounds, between Augustin Valdez and Thomas Prestriedge. Here is the SteelFist Facebook page.

John Valentine, former MMA pro, continues to have success as a grappling competitor. He recently scored a win over Arron Carson in a submission-only grappling competition. You can watch the bout here.

AND I ALMOST FORGET!!! USA Boxing amateur qualifying tournament in Salt Lake City starts Dec. 2. The bouts, which through the next week, are at the Salt Palace. Here is some information. Louie's Boxing Gym, 855 W California in Salt Lake City, is offering free training for credentialed competitors, tomorrow from 10 am to 1 pm, Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 to 8 pm and Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 6 pm.

Remembering Michelle Maya, national Golden Gloves champ

We note the very sad news that Utah's Michelle Maya, 2018 National Golden Gloves champion, died early Sunday morning, Nov. 11, in a automobile accident near Salt Lake City. Our prayers are with Michelle, only 19, and her friends and family. Her death at such a young age is a tragedy, and there is additional sadness at the loss of a potentially great future for the young woman. Nevertheless, she accomplished a lot in her brief life. She was an aggressive boxer who used pressure, cardio and ring generalship to win the national title. She was scheduled to compete in next month's USA Boxing's amateur boxing championships in Salt Lake City. The photo above of Michelle was posted on Facebook by Louie's Boxing Gym. Below is a post we published on June 1, 2018, noting Michelle Golden Gloves triumph.

A GoFundMe page to help her family with Michelle's funeral expenses is here.

MICHELLE MAYA, NATIONAL GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMP

A big shout out for Northern Utah amateur boxer Michelle Maya, who captured the National open Golden Gloves championship recently. She's the 119 pound champ. In fact, three women boxers from the Rocky Mountain region made it to the finals. Idaho's Kendra Reeves won the 152-pound title. Maryguenn Vellinga took runner up at 112 pounds. The Deseret News' Amy Donaldson covered the recent Golden Gloves well. Here's a story on Maya and others. Top of Utah men at the nationals included Lights Out's Jon Bryant, who lost a split decision in the opening bout, and Los Gallitos' Diego Alvarez, who won in the first round but was decisioned in bout two. Utahns Matt Searle and Milo Gomez also lost decisions.