Olguin, Douglas, Jesus Haro score boxing wins; Siler versus King MMA headliner

 

Some boxing news: On Jan. 30 of this year in Tooele, Utah, northern Utah professional boxers Helaman Olguin, heavyweight, Brandon Douglas, featherweight, and Eric Wahlen, heavyweight, all scored KO wins. Olguin, of West Jordan, 9-3, ended the bout in round one against Carlos Reyes, 7-13-2. Olguin has won his last 8 bouts. Douglas, 10-1, stopped Rondarius Hunter, 4-8-2, in round one. And Wahlen, 6-0, defeated Joshua Brown, 1-3, in round two. (The photo above shows Douglas, at right, measuring his opponent. It is a photo posted on Facebook.)

Winners in other pro bouts were Danielle Bennett, Deborah Willies, Juan Higuera and Cody Woslager. To see all the fighters' names and amateur muy thay fighting results, go here.

On Oct. 31, in Tijuana, Mexico, Jesus Haro, a light flyweight professional boxing prospect who fights out of Merced, Calif., but has family ties in Northern Utah, won a four-round unanimous decision over Fernando Molina. Jesse Haro, now 4-1, fights in Mexico City on March 5. 

On Nov. 20, in Shelbville, Ky, at the Shelby County Fairgrounds, Idaho boxer/MMA fighter Clay Collard meets undefeated Maidel Sando in a middleweight main bout. Collard won five of six boxing matches in 2020. Livesportscaster.com is supposed to stream the card. ... After this fight he competes in the 2021 PFL MMA tournament beginning April 23. Collard will fight in the lightweight division. ESPN has broadcast rights.

In Utah MMA Mountain Force MMA, Fierce Fighting Championship and SteelFist have cards planned in February and March. The Feb. 27 FFC card at The Maverik Center in West Valley headlines pro featherweights Steven Siler and Bobby King in the main. More on that card, which features many local fighters, is here. Info on the MF MMA card Feb. 13 is here. 

Collard's 2020 boxing run ends with decision loss to LaVallais in a rematch

 

Clay Collard's remarkable boxing year 2020 ended on a slightly down note on Saturday in Las Vegas, in The Bubble, as he lost an 8-round decision to taller New Orleans boxer Quincy LaVaillas, It was a rematch of a 2019 draw between Collard (9-3-3) and LaVallais (10-0-1).

It was a close middleweight fight. Two judges scored it an acceptable 77-75. Another erred in a too-wide 78-74 margin. This blog scored the bout a draw, giving the more aggressive Collard (seen above on the left) rounds 1, 2, 5 and 7. However, there's no doubt that the judges were impressed with repeat right hands that LaVallais landed on Collard's head/ They didn't seem to hurt the Burley, Idaho, boxer, but he rarely could get out of their way.

In the latter half of the fight, LaVallais also had success slipping punches when the more aggressive Collard pinned him in a corner. Collard was often effective, however, when he followed a retreating LaVallais, landing hooks to the head and body. In the final round Collard started strongly but LaVallais excelled in the final moment.

It's been a remarkable two years for Collard, who merits great respect for barnstorming around the nation, taking on local favorites in their home locations and usually pulling out a win or a draw. Things improved even more this year when Top Rank took notice of his talents and fan appeal. He was 5-0 in this Covid-19 year until Saturday's loss.

Collard, who until recently fought out of Utah, is well known as an MMA pro with UFC experience. He will be taking a year off to compete in the Professional Fighter League MMA tournament for 2021 that promises weight class winners a $1 million prize. We wish him the best and thank him for providing us a lot of cheers in the boxing ring.