Larry Gomez fights in televised bout; Collard boxes again on Dec. 12

From the pen of the iconic Thornton Wilder, July 29, 1918.

Today's a quick Utah Fight Game with some important subjects. At the end we take a look at some of newspaper clippings of the great Jack Dempsey's fight with Fred Fulton, the No. 1 heavyweight contender in 1918. Dempsey, who once fought in Ogden, Utah, knocked out Fulton in less than a half minute. Nearly a year later he was heavyweight champ, stopping Jess Willard in 1919.

Look at the wonderful 1918 cartoon published two days after the bout. More clips at bottom of post.

---

But, on to the most important news.

On Thursday night in Los Angeles, welterweight pro Larry Gomez, of West Jordan, fights on TV (NBCSN network, Channel 34, Xfinity). Gomez is 10-1 and last fought a year ago, scoring a decision win over highly regarded Brian Mendoza, 18-1. On Thursday, Gomez meets Brian Ceballo, 11-0. It's a great match up between two young contenders. The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds. The TV card starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Gomez v Ceballo will likely be the first bout.

Utah/Idaho professional boxer Clay Collard, usually a light middleweight to super middleweight, said on social media this week that he will be boxing on Dec. 12. I don't know the opponent but it's probably a Top Rank card at The Bubble in Las Vegas. On that day Shakur Stevenson will be defending his featherweight title and I assume Collard is on the undercard. Google Collard on this blog to read about his remarkable 2020 boxing year.

A boxing card is scheduled on Dec. 12 in Grantsville, Utah. I hope it survives any Covic-19-related postponement or cancellation. Salt Lake City pro heavyweight Helaman Olguin, who recently won on an ESPN-Plus Top Rank card, will be fighting Carlos Reyes. The scheduled card is on this page. 

Young professional boxer Jesus Haro, who has won several bouts this year, recently served as a sparring partner for WBO world mini-flyweight champ Wilfredo Mendez. You can see a picture of the pair here. They were in Las Vegas at The Mayweather gym.

MMA: As we noted in this post, Lehi, Utah, professional MMA welterweight Carson Hardman won his first bout in an XFCwelterweight tournament. Hardman will fight again in the next round of the XFC tourney in early 2021.

---

HERE ARE OLD NEWSPAPER CLIPS OF JACK DEMPSEY's KO OVER FRED FULTON 102-plus years ago.

Siler meets King in FFC MMA title bout; Hardman fights on XFC card

 

Update: Due to the uptick in Covid-19 cases in Utah, it was announced on Nov. 12 that the FFC card has been postponed: Assuming Covid-19 doesn't stop things, this is a big week for MMA action locally. On Saturday, Nov. 14, at The Maverik Center, Steven Siler meets Bobby King in a featherweight FFC title tilt. King has been winning of late, but UFC and PFL veteran Siler will be a tough test. Look below at the matchups. Several of these fights would be excellent main events on any local card. The card can be streamed for I think $20. Info is here.

HARDMAN TO FIGHT ON XFX 43

Update: Hatdman, 9-2, scored a first round stoppage win via strikes. His opponent was Steven Newell. 9-2, who stepped in as a sub for Bradley Desir. Also, Utah County professional MMA fighter Carson Hardman fights in XFC 43 on Wednesday, as part of a tournament. He fights Bellator veteran Bradley Desir. Here is the card, a portion of which is televised on NBCSports TV network at 7 p.m. (Xfinity 34). The card is in Atlanta. I assume there will be streaming for earlier bouts. 

Finally, Mountain Force MMA had a card in October in Logan. Montell Williams scored a decision win over Ogden's Eric Munoz in the pro main event. Card results are here. 

BOXING

Two weekends ago in Tijuana, Mexico, professional prospect Jesus Haro scored a decision win over Uziel Pinto Jimenez. Haro boxed very well, winning every round. By the way, Haro has several pro wins, more than the two Boxrec.com claims. Haro's stablemate, Miklo Arnold, scored a TKO win over Alejandro Leon Martinez. Arnold also has wins not acknowledged by Boxrec.com.

On Oct. 24, previously undefeated Salt Lake City pro boxer Brandon Douglas suffered his first loss in Agua Prita, Mexico. Douglas (9-1), lost a 10-round decision to veteran Juan Jimenez, 28-19-3. 

West Jordan welterweight pro boxer Larry Gomez, 10-1, who upset then-undefeated Brian Mendoza late last year on a Top Rank card, will fight undefeated, 11-0 Brian Ceballo on Dec. 3 in Los Angeles. The bout will be televised by NBCSports network.

February MMA, boxing results in Utah

MMA

On Feb. 15 at The Maverik Center in West Valley, Fierce Fighting Championship hosted an MMA card. featherweight Bobby King scored a third round stoppage of Samson Phommabout in the main event. King, who has enjoyed success of late, seems ready for an opportunity in Bellator, etc.

The entire card is here. In other bouts, Mike Hamel defeated Fabio Serrao via decision, Kyle Stewart and Carson Hardman scored first round wins over Mike Jones and Nate Kearsley, Josh Quinlan and Tracy Hardy scored submission wins over Aaron Thomson and Eric Munoz, and Trever Bradshaw and Brian Mitchell stopped Randy Rowland and Thomas Hughes in the first round.

---

On Feb. 21 in Salt Lake City, SteelFist hosted an MMA card. In the main bout, professional Cole Shafer, 1-0, 185 pounds, made a successful pro debut, stopping Nick Martinez in round one. In an amateur promotional title fight, 185 pounds, Ryan Thaxton stopped Zack Partridge in round 2. Undefeated amateur 265 pounder Bryce Scanlon stayed unbeaten, stopping Kendrid Wolf in round 3.  And in a battle of 145-pound amateurs, Austin Atkinson stopped Jordan Munoz in the second round. The entire card is here.

BOXING

At the 801 Event Center in Salt Lake City, there was a boxing card. In the main bout, professional heavyweight Helaman Olguin, 7-3, stopped Mexico's Alfredo Trevino, 9-7-1. Also, local Jalel Lopez, Lopez, 9-3-2, defeated veteran Edgar Ivan Garcia, 7-22-1. Undefeated Brandon Douglas defeated Carols Apodaca, 3-15-2, Ray Corona won his pro debut over Gary Bailey, 0-1-1, and Maryguenn Vellinga-Heinz, in her pro debut, defeated Jennifer Michelle Woods, 0-2.

On Feb. 22, there was an amateur boxing card at Foley's gym in Ogden. Below is a photo of the card with victors circled.

And in other news ...

SteelFist is having a Kickboxing card March 6 at the Union Event Center in Salt Lake City. Tyson Roberts will be fighting on the card ... On March 7, grappler John Valentine will be competing in a submission-only bout in Las Vegas. His sons will also be competing on the card.

Utah MMA cards, Larry Gomez set to fight, Collard wins in boxing again

Some MMA news first. Here is an update on the Fierce Fighting Championship card set for Feb. 15 at the Maverik Center in West Valley, Utah.

The main bout matches Samson Phommabout against Bobby King. The rest of the card features similarly well-matched bouts. They include:

Fabio Serrao versus Mike Hamel; Mike Jones versus Kyle Stewart; Carson Hardman versus Nate Kearsley; Eric Munoz versus Tracy Hardy; Aaron Thomson versus Josh Quinlan; Trever Bradshaw versus Randy Rowland; Thomas Hughes versus Brian Mitchell; and Nathan Owens versus Justin Horsley; with more bouts. A complete scheduled card is here. More info at FFC's Facebook page. This is a damned good card.

---

Speaking of good MMA cards, SteelFist has another card six days later, Feb. 21, at the Union Event Center. The main bout matches Nick Martinez versus Cole Shafer. The co-main matches Hayden Brown against Craig Grove. And undefeated Lehi Dominguez against Jeff Carson, and another pro bout. Ryan Thaxton and Zack Partridge meet in an amateur promotional title bout. Another amateur bout matches Jordan Munoz against Austin Atkinson. Jordan Munoz is the son of professional Eric Munoz, who, as mentioned, fights on the FFC card six days earlier. The scheduled card is here. For more information, go to SteelFist's website.

BOXING

Utah's Clay Collard, a UFC-quality mixed martial artist, continued his remarkable barnstorming-around-the-nation boxing career by scoring another solid win over a previously undefeated professional boxer ... usually in their home towns. On Jan. 1, in Cincinnati, Collard defeated Quashawn Toler, who is now 9-1. Collard is now 5-2-3. In the past seven months, Collard has fought nine times against opponents with a combined record of, I believe, now, 51 wins and three losses. He has won four of those fights, lost one by decision and drawn three times. His only stoppage loss was against a "super-prospect," Bektemir Melikuziev, on the undercard of the Canelo Alavarez victory over Sergey Kovalev.

And .... Collard is readying to fight another undefeated prospect on Feb. 1. In Biloxi, Miss., he will fight on the undercard of a Fox Sports TV fight card, meeting Raymond Guajardo. Guajardo is only 19 and he has looked great in his brief career. However, he has met no fighter as remotely experienced or talented as Collard.

Larry Gomez, who defeated Brian Mendoza on a Top Rank boxing card late last year, will be back in the ring in Salt Lake City on Feb. 7 at the Union Event Center. His opponent has yet to be announced. Also scheduled to fight on the card is undefeated heavyweight Eric Wahlen, undefeated featherweight Brandon Douglas, heavyweight Helaman Olguin, superlightweight Francisco Jalel Lopez, and undefeated lightweight Gabriel Chairez. The scheduled, still sketchy for opponents at this date, is at the bottom of this webpage.

ALSO, Mountain Force MMA and Cache Valley Boxing are hosting an amateur boxing card on Jan. 25 in Logan at the Cache County Event Center.

Neal, several other locals, on September LFA card in West Valley

Some quick updates on the Utah Fight Game:

On Sept. 6, in West Valley at The Maverik Center, Ogden's Jon Neal is the co-main event on an LFA card, fighting Idaho's Andrew Cruz. Several area  MMA professionals are on the card, including Samson Phommabout, Westin Wilson, Carson Hardman, Eric Iman, Kaytlin Neil, Trever Bradshaw, and Mike Jones. The entire card is here.

On Oct. 19, at The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City, professionals Rowdy Akers and Gregg McFarland head the SteelFist MMA card.

On Sept. 21, at the Eccles Ice Arena in Logan, professional Dom Gero of Ogden meets debuting Max Riddle in the pro main bout for Mountain Force MMA.

Some recent MMA cards:

SteelFist, Aug. 9: In the main event, former amateur champion Hayden Brown made his pro debut against veteran Nick Martinez, who used his experience to score a win. The entire card is here.

Mountain Force MMA, Aug. 3: Veteran Aaron Sutton, of Idaho, announced his retirement after losing in the main bout to Billy Carothers. Results are here. ... Also Utah's Court McGee will meet Sean Brady in a UFC bout Oct. 18 in Boston.

Fierce Fighting Championships, Aug. 3: Phommabout defeated Randy Rowland in the main bout. On the undercard, Thomas Prestriedge won the 135 pound amateur belt, defeating Simon Prado. Results are here.

Idaho professional MMA pro Kerry Lattimer remained busy, scoring a win in Hawaii and a loss in northern California.

Finally, Utah MMA pro Court McGee is back in the UFC cage on Oct. 18 in Boston. He meets Sean Brady.

BOXING:

On Aug. 31 at the One Event Center in SLC, there is a boxing card. Professional Helaman Olguin will be fighting. Bouts that included featherweight Jose Haro and super middleweight Christian Nava will not be occurring. ... Salt Lake City welterweight pro Christian Aguirre is scheduled to fight on Sept. 6 in northern California.

Jose Haro to fight in near future, more news

SOME UPDATES: Plans have changed, and Jose Haro will fight but not in Wendover on Aug. 17.  According to Haro, plans are for a bout in the near future in Salt Lake City. Also, Aaron Thomson has had to withdraw from pro MMA bout against Eric Munoz on Aug. 3 in Price. No news yet of whether there is a replacement to fight Munoz.

It has been a while since Northern Utah boxer Jose Haro (seen above earlier in his career) has been in the ring. In his last bout he won a United States professional championship. On Saturday, Aug. 18, he fights for FKP promotions in Wendover against an opponent to be named. Also on the card will be Northern Utah professional Larry Gomez. Both Haro and Gomez also hold American Boxing Organization titles as well.

Clay Collard is a world class MMA fighter but for two months this year he boxed four times, barnstorming around the nation fighting preliminary bouts against -- I presume -- hometown favorites. He did very well considering the strong opponents and rushed schedule, compiling one win, one loss and three draws. His overall boxing record is now 2-1-3.

The Junior Olympics national championship was held recently. Several local boxers represented the Rocky Mountain states. Payson fighters Aaron Garcia Jr. and Austin Garcia were among those crowned champions.

In the last SteelFist card, Brian Thomas decisioned Carson Hardman in the main bout. Thomas' ground game was the difference. Eric Iman also scored a win. Entire card is here.

An excellent card set this Friday night in Price. Two pro bouts of note are Samson Phommabout versus Randy Rowland and Eric Munoz versus Aaron Thomson. Undercard includes veteran amateurs Thomas Prestriedge and Brandon Rease in separate bouts. Card is here.

Aaron Sutton headlines on Aug. 3 in Idaho Falls, Idaho against Billy Carrothers in a Mountain Force MMA event. Card is here.

Aug. 9, Friday, is the next SteelFist card in SLC at Union Event Center. Amateur middleweight champion Hayden Brown makes his pro debut in the main event. Card and more information is here.

And Utah MMA pro Steven Siler, who was a finalist in the PFL featherweight tournament last, was eliminated last week from this year's tourney in a nationally televised bout.

Gomez, Jones, Chairez, Bradshaw among recent fight winners

Boxing:

Last Saturday in Wendover Utah boxers Larry Gomez and Christian Aguirre met in a rematch of a 2018 bout won by Gomez. Gomez won the rematch as well, with Aguirre retiring after three rounds. In other bouts, local professional Bladmir Estrada lost via decision to Kevin Hand and professional Helaman Olguin scored a win over Joseph Jones. Card is here..

A couple of weeks ago in SLC professional boxing brothers Ignacio Chairez and Gabriel Chairez competed in separate bouts. Gabriel won a decision over Edison Charley and Ignacio (seen above on right defeating Jorge Soto in a previous bout) ended in a no contest bout against Mikhail Lyubarsky. Early in round one, Lyubarsky, preferring to hold and clutch Chairez rather than fight, dragged Chairez to the floor. Things spiraled out of control and the bout was halted.

MMA

In the most recent SteelFist card in May, Mike Jones stopped Tracy Hardy in the main pro bout. In another pro bout, Trever Bradshaw knocked out Joe Maama in the first round. Card is here. On June 28, Carson Hardman headlines in a pro bout against Brian Thomas. The card, which also includes a heavyweight pro bout between Eric Iman and Mike Robinson, is here.

Father and son MMA fighters Eric and Jordan Munoz have separate bouts set. On Aug. 3, in Price, Utah, in an intriguing match, Eric Munoz (2-0) fights pro debuting Aaron Thomson, a one-time amateur of note. And on Aug. 9, on a SteelFist card, amateur Jordan Munoz (1-0) meets Doug Anderson.