Willard Bean, Mormonism's 'Fighting Preacher,' attracted the attention of the curious press

 

Above is an 1899 news clipping from The Boston Globe. I apologize the text is mostly unreadable. It's a feature, however, on a "preacher," Mormon no less, named Willard Bean. He was a very good prizefighter out of Utah 100 years plus a generation ago. I first blogged about Bean several years ago. Here's a  link. And below is Cal Grondahl's fantastic cartoon that accompanied the blog post.

Bean has an "official" 8-5-3 record with one no decision and one no contest on BoxRec between 1897 and 1902 but he likely had more wins unrecorded. He would be tagged a near world-class boxer, in my opinion. The reason I say that is his no decision fight of 10 tough rounds with Joe Choynski in 1899. Choynski is one of the greatest early pugilists; a Hall of Fame boxer. A small clip from a Quincy, Ill. newspaper is below that mentions the bout.

Bean also fought, and went the distance -- 20 rounds -- with the world-class heavyweight title challenger Fireman Jim Flynn, who fought Jack Johnson for the world heavyweight championship. Flynn also knocked out future heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in one round a few years before Dempsey won the title. Dempsey avenged the loss about a year later with a first-round KO of Flynn. Below is a recap of the decision win by Flynn. 

Below are some long ago clips of recaps of a couple of bouts Bean won by knockout.

Most people know of Bean today due to his enthusiastic missionary skills and temple work later in life. A popular film on Bean and his wife's missionary efforts, "The Fighting Preacher,"' was released a couple of years ago. I reviewed it here. It's available on various streaming services, including Amazon Prime. The next clip exemplifies his missionary spirit. It is from The Salt Lake Tribune in 1899. 

One more picture of the Fighting Preacher, Willard Bean. I do not know the source.

Some quick local MMA notes: Mountain Force MMA had an all amateur card Friday, Jan. 8 in Logan. In the main event, a great fight, Alan Rea stopped Aaron Boothe in Round 3. Fighting Out of Utah MMA has results on its Facebook page. Also, Utah professional welterweight Weston Wilson traveled to Knoxville, Tenn, on Saturday, Jan. 9 and knocked out Christian Sanchez in the first round.

Collard opponent set in boxing; Westin to headline MMA card

Just a quick few notes: (UPDATE BELOW)

According to ESPN's Steve Kim, MMA/boxer Clay Collard has an opponent for an Aug. 22 boxing card in "The Bubble" MGM Grand in Las Vegas, promoted by Top Rank. Collard (8-2-3), winner of four bouts this year, will face middleweight Maurice Williams (7-1).

The bout will likely be broadcast on ESPN as Collard has gained a following as boxing's most consistent face, and winner, during this pandemic year. Collard is seen above stopping L.T. Nelson in his most recent win.  ... Noted also is that 17-year-old professional boxer Jesus Haro, of Merced, Calif., logged his first win last weekend in Tijuana, Mexico. Haro, a prominent amateur, has family in Utah. Also winning on the card was Miklo Arnold, a 16-year-old professional, of North Plains, Ore.

And in MMA news, Mountain Force MMA is planning a card in Evanston, Wyo., on Aug. 1. Utah professional Westin Wilson, of Orem, will headline the card, meeting Kurt Steinke. The card is here. Mountain Force's Facebook page is here. Its website is here. ... On the weekend of Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, FitCon 2020 is planning to have amateur MMA bouts. Its Facebook page is here. Utah amateur MMA fighter Brittany Guillemin is scheduled to fight on Aug. 21.

ALSO, on Friday, July 31, Utah MMA pro heavyweight, Zac Cavender, (3-1) fights in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Legacy Fighting Alliance 87 card, which is being broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. Cavender meets debuting Zac Pauga. The card starts at 7 p.m. MST.

UPDATE TO WESTIN and CAVENDER MMA bouts: Cavender, 3-2, lost a three-round decision in his streamed bout against Pauga, a highly touted amateur who was making his pro debut. Westin, 8-5, stopped the debuting Steinke in the first round.

Interview with MMA pro Joe Rodriguez, LFA MMA card Friday

It's a big night tomorrow for Utah MMA. Legacy Fighting Alliance is in West Valley City at The Maverik Center. The AXS TV card headlines Jon Neal, of Ogden, against Tyler Diamond. Also fighting in bouts are Josh Burkman, LJ Schulz, Westin Wilson, Kaytlin Neil, Zac Cavender, and Marco Sanchez. Also, Bobby King meets Fabio Serrao.

Also on the card is veteran 185 pounder Joe Rodriguez, who trains out of One Hit MMA and University of Grappling. He meets Emilio Trevino. We've followed Joe's successful career for years and appreciate him granting Utah Fight Game a pre-fight interview.

What does it mean for you to return to an LFA fight card, particularly one in Northern Utah?

Rodriguez:  I wasn't expecting to fight on a big show. After Glory kickboxing, an injury put me out for a year then I couldn't find any fights a year later for 185 lbs. (After) two years of not fighting I was about to call it quits. Beginning of 2018 I moved up to 205 lbs to fight a guy from Colorado, then I had another one after that and now LFA will be my 3rd fight at 205. I'm honored to fight for LFA given the fact that I am 41 years of age so maybe I do have some fight left in me.

What do you know about your opponent?

Rodriguez: I know my opponent has a karate background, fights southpaw and orthodox. Doesn't matter to me, I've trained with the best southpaw in Utah (Jordan Smith) for years. He hasn't fought the level of guys I have fought so I'm sure I'll be a challenge for him but I will not underestimate him.

How has training gone? It's at One Hit MMA and University of Grappling.

Rodriguez: Training has been good, One Hit MMA (Aldo Oreggia) and University Of Grappling (Marc Brewer). I train and spar with all my guys, big and small with experience from both gyms. It's good to have a variety of styles and people always making the movement different.

Where do you hope to be in your career a year from now?

Rodriguez: I am 41 years old. I didn't imagine fighting this long so where I'll be in a year, I really can't say. I've accomplished something that I never would have imagined doing, Fighting Bellator twice, RFA, Glory Kickboxing and now LFA. Not many people can say they've done what I have starting at 34 years old with absolutely no fight experience, not knowing a thing about MMA.

Good luck Joe, tomorrow night, as well as the others on the card. 

A couple of extra notes. As we mentioned last week, Utah MMA amateur Hayden Brown fights for a Tuff-N-Uff title Saturday in Las Vegas. Also, last week, MMA fighter Rowdy Akers scored a first round stoppage in his debut as a professional kickboxer, winning a Bare Knuckle Combat League title. And last weekend in Georgia, Kaecy Raddon, formerly of Utah now living in Colorado, who is a Mountain Force Kickboxing champion, scored a kickboxing win over Mexico's Luis Espinosa in international competition sanctioned by the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO).

Lattimer, Munoz among SteelFist winners, LFA card nears

(The poster above advertises one of the pro bouts from LFA on Friday May 10, at The Maverik Center in West Valley. Ogden's LJ Schulz fights Hunter Azure in a bantamweight bout. This card is, to use a cliche, stacked. Ogden's Jon Neal meets Tyler Diamond in the main event. Here is the card on Tapology. Fighting against various tough opponents are Josh Burkman, Joe Rodriguez, Westin Wilson, Katlyn Neil, and two others, Bobby King and Fabio Serrao, meet in a highly anticipated bout. Although Tapology does not include, undefeated pro Zac Cavender is also on the card. His bout shows on MixedMartialArts page. The card will be televised on AXS, which is carried by Dish and DirectTV.

-- Last weekend SteelFist results -- Two of our better 155 pound regional vets, Kerry Lattimer and Troy Dennison, headlined. It was Lattimer's night, winning via submission in round one. In another pro bout, middleweight Eric Munoz went to 2-0 with a first round stoppage of Nick Martinez. And Munoz's son, Jordan, won his amateur debut in a competitive bout with Jayden Marshall, via third round stoppage. In two amateur title bouts, Michael Eastwood stopped Jordan Marshall in round one (115 pounds) and in a brutal bout, Tanner Hinds stopped Cole Shafer in round 2, 165 pounds. The entire card results are here. Also, you can watch the card here via YouTube. The next SteelFist card is May 31 in SLC. Tracy Hardy fights Mike Jones in the main bout. Also fighting is professional Thomas Hughes. Card is here.

Layton amateur middleweight MMA fighter Hayden Brown travels to Las Vegas travels to Las Vegas on May 10 to fight Theo Greenidge for the Tuff-N-Uff belt.

... In what was an extremely close professional boxing match in Las Vegas recently, Midvale's Larry Gomez, 8-1, dropped a split decision to 7-1 Kevin Johnson. You can see excerpts from the bout, courtesy of the promoter, Final Fight Championship, on Larry's Facebook page here. On that same card, in an MMA bout, Utah professional Clay Collard also won. Some local pro fighters, Christian Aguirre, Gary Cobia, Gabriel Chairez, and Bladimer Estrada, have recently said they will be back in the ring soon.

Gregory wins at SteelFist; Larry Gomez to box on March 8

Some nuggets of fight news in Utah.

At the SteelFist MMA card last Saturday, 170-pound pro Carson Gregory (7-1) scored a first-round win, via strikes, over Craig Grove. After withstanding an early attack from Groves, Gregory took charge, wearing his opponent down before bout was stopped at 2.37.

In other pro bouts, heavyweight Eric Iman and 170-pounder Trever Bradshaw scored first round stoppages over Joshua Brown and Joe Maama. And 185-pounder Tracy Hardy stopped Marco Sanchez in round two in a pro bout. In a 265-pound amateur title bout, Dakota Witkopf stopped Kent Mafileo in round 4. All card results are here.

--- On March 8 in Salt Lake City, undefeated boxer Larry Gomez, (7-0), of Midvale, will headline a boxing card. It's at the 801 Event Center. Fights start at 7 p.m. Above photo shows Gomez after a KO win.

-- Tomorrow night, Saturday, March 23, at the Legacy Events Center in Farmington, Mountain Force Kickboxing will have its second promotion. Kaecy Raddon, formerly of Utah and now fighting out of Colorado, will fight for the promotion's super- lightweight belt against Ian Scott. A list of the bouts is here. One fighter, Joe Flores, had to pull out due to injury.

--- Finally, last night in Southern California, for Fight Club OC promotion, at the Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif., Utah pro MMA welterweight Westin Wilson (7-3) scored a first-round choke submission over Javier Garcia, (4-3). Westin stunned Garcia with a leg shot from the floor before getting him into a choke finish.