Collard scores electrifying boxing upset on national television

Readers of this blog may have noticed that we have been charting UFC MMA fighter-turned professional boxer, Clay Collard's career. In the past several months, the Northern Utah boxer has fought 10 times, in his opponent's hometown or his promotional banner. Remarkably, the journeyman Collard has won five of those bouts, scored draws in three, and lost twice.

Last night he fought one of the top 160-pound prospects in the world, Raymond Guajardo, (5-0) of El Paso, Texas. Collard (6-2-3) was brought in, like many journeymen boxers, with the expectation that he would pad the prospect's record, or in other words, lose. I had noted in past blogs that one reason Collard was scoring upsets over undefeated boxers is the level of competition he is facing. In his last 10 fights, Collard has met opponents with a combined record of 59 wins and two losses. Prior to last night's bout, Guajardo had met opponents with a combined record of 4-6.

The photo above is a TV grab from last night's bout on Fox Sports 1. Collard is standing over Guajardo. You can watch the fight here.

Over the course of 4 minutes and 42 seconds, Collard floored Guajardo twice and severely battered the young prospect around the ring before it was stopped. The game Guajardo managed to floor Collard once during the wild bout, that is already being touted as an early candidate for fight of the year. Certainly the first round may remain round of the year.

Guajardo might become a great fighter but in Collard he was essentially facing a veteran, a fighter who fought the toughest UFC fighters, including Max Holloway, and had been boxing tough competition on more or less a monthly basis. No one vocally noted this on the PBC fight card. But it was out there had the promotion, and perhaps Guajardo's braintrust, done some due diligence.

So congrats on a great win for Collard. In an interesting twist, this may be it for him for a long while regarding boxing. He has an opportunity to compete in the Professional Fighters League annual MMA tournament. The winners earn $1 million. However, he's now a hotter boxing commodity after the drama of last night's bout. Major promoter Lou DiBella wants him on an upcoming Utah boxing card, and I'm sure other large promotions have tucked Collard into their proverbial "Rolodex."

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.

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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.

Boxer Jose Haro signs with Sheer Sports Management

West Jordan, Utah, professional featherweight boxer Jose Haro is shown above in a promotional poster for a bout he won in 2018, earning the United States Featherweight title. Haro has not fought since the win. However, he recently signed with Sheer Sports Management and plans to resume his career in 2020. Haro is a world-class fight who can compete on an equal level with any featherweight in the world today.

On Dec. 14, in Salt Lake City, there was a boxing card. Among professionals, Francisco Jalel Lopez, Antonio Brown, Brandon Douglas were among winners. The full card results are at boxrec here. I appreciate Utah professional boxer Christian Aguirre keeping the blog up to date on results that night.

UFC MMA fighter Clay Collard, who has scored several wins as a pro boxer, plans to step into the boxing ring again on January 3 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He fights undefeated Quashawn Toler, 9-0. Based on the caliber of opposition both fighters have faced, I'm choosing Collard, 4-2-3, to win.

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Congratulations to professional kickboxer Kaecy Raddon, who holds a Mountain Force Kickboxing belt, for scoring a KO win, and a PanAmerican Kickboxing Confederation belt, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on Dec.14.

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SteelFist MMA has a great fight card scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 4 at the Union Event Center in Salt Lake City. the main pro bout matches Eric Iman versus Zac Cavender for the 265-pound belt. Another pro fight matches Rowdy Akers versus Justus Minardi at 135 pounds. Also at 135 pounds, undefeated pros Warren Weingartner and Justin Horsley meet. The card also includes four amateur title belts. More information is here at SteelFist's website.

Another MMA card, from Fierce Fighting Championship, is set for Feb. 15, at the Maverik Center in West Valley City. The main event is a great match -- Bobby King versus Samson Phommabout. More on this card in a later post.

Fat City, still the best boxing novel

I've decided to throw up a book review I had published too many years ago in the long-gone Salt Lake City Event magazine. It is of the novel, Fat City, by Leonard Gardner. It's the best boxing novel published since The Harder They Fall. It's also a great John Huston-directed film. Things are slow in December in the fight game, so enjoy this review. Buy it here.
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Fat City

Fat City, by Leonard Gardner, reminds me a lot of a John Steinbeck novel. It takes place in northern California -- Stockton, to be exact -- and is a story about lost dreams, skid row, alcoholism, self destruction and day labor workers picking crops and being bossed around by callous overseers. The time is the late 1950s. Billy Tully is a washed-up 29-year-old ex-boxer who barely survives life in a downtown hotel. Tully carries a major torch for his ex-wife, who left him when his fighting career went south. He works picking fruit and spends his nights drinking. Sometimes he flirts with Oma, a young, alcoholic, bitter widow who lives with a black man.

One day Tully goes to a YMCA, and coaxes an 18-year-old named Ernie Munger to spar with him. To Tully's surprise, Ernie whips him handily that day. Prodded by Tully, Ernie goes to the gym and starts training under the eye of Ruben Luna, who used to train Tully. Ernie, who works nights at a gas station, marries his girlfriend Faye when she becomes pregnant. Tully keeps working the fields, but begins to imagine a comeback. He moves in with Oma, and then follows Ernie to the gym to start his own comeback under Luna s watch.

Fat City is a lot more than a boxing tale, however. Gardner's writing is superb. He has a talent for getting inside the heads of and fleshing out the personalities of even minor characters. For example, there's this young boxer named Wes Haynes. He trains hard and is filled with dreams of success. In his first fight, Wes is knocked out in the first round. "Wes ... was overcome with dejection. He had made no secret of his training. Acquaintances at school had spoke to him as if he were a professional, and he had not cared to correct them. He had believed he would be one soon enough ... Now he felt he should have known all along that he was nothing."

There is no glamour in the fight game in Gardner s novel. Tully and Ernie are brought to the gym for quixotic reasons; Tully to regain the glory he had in his youth (and maybe his ex-wife, although that's a pipe dream more fueled by booze than love). Ernie just wants enough extra cash to support a wife and baby. But there's no money in fighting. Ernie gets $10 for fighting four round bouts. Tully's comeback fight -- a main event 10-round tough win over a fading, ring-wise veteran from Mexico -- nets him only $100. He soon returns to booze -- even Oma has left him. Alcoholism destroys Tully. It makes him a self-pitying whiner. He blames his manager Luna for a long-ago boxing loss. Soon after Tully's comeback win, he is filthy and homeless, struggling to find a place to sleep on the street.

Perhaps Ernie is meant to be a younger Tully. However, he lacks the talent of his mentor and we're left with the impression that boxing won't consume his life. He's roped into marriage with Faye before he's ready. There is a scary scene where the usually mild-mannered Ernie is consumed with jealousy after seeing an ex-boyfriend of Faye's. In a mild yet chilling manner, he demands from Faye to know about her past sex life, all the while insisting it's no big deal. Faye, never having seen this insecure, possessive side of her new husband, eventually bursts into tears. "...that deep animal moaning, terrifying in its immodesty, rose from behind her hands. It was a sound he had never heard before. ... Faye, it doesn t bother me. It doesn't bother me. It really doesn't bother me."

Fat City gives voice to the shadow people of the streets. The ones who spend hours in the bars, wake up in ratty hotel rooms, hang out at bus stops waiting to be driven to a field to pick crops, and earn just enough cash to be able to go on a week-long bender in their hotel room. For Tully, there is no difference between winning and losing. His long-term fate has already been determined. His boxing ability can only provide a short respite from another slide. But Gardner does not see Tully as a quitter. No one s a quitter among Gardner s street people. They re survivors. They claw out lives any way they can, regardless of the baggage that keeps them down.

A footnote: Fat City was made into a movie in 1972. It was directed by John Huston and starred Stacy Keach as Tully and Jeff Bridges as Ernie. It garnered excellent reviews and is available on DVD.

-- Doug Gibson

Gomez defeats Mendoza on ESPN-Plus card

Just a few minutes ago, after a thrilling eight-round fight between two of the best young welterweight prospects in the world, West Jordan's Larry Gomez (seen above scoring a KO in an earlier bout) scored an eight-round split decision over previously unbeaten Top Rank-promoted boxer Brian Mendoza. We previewed this bout yesterday.

The scores were 77-75 twice for Gomez and 77-75 once for Mendoza. They consider the win an upset on ESPN-Plus, but we Utahns, having followed Larry's career, know better. This was no upset.

It was a great fight. Mendoza had the edge in the first two rounds as Gomez counter punched. Gomez, using aggression and sharp hooks, swept round three through five. Mendoza rallied to win round six with boxing skills. A key moment arrived late in round seven, a close round until Gomez hurt Mendoza with hard shots.

Gomez dominated round 8 over a tired, bloodied Mendoza. Both fighters fought with a lot of courage. Perhaps a re-match may be in the cards? In any event, we congratulate Larry and look forward to his next fight.

Larry Gomez scheduled to fight on ESPN+ Saturday

The big news in the Utah fight game this week is that Northern Utah welterweight Larry Gomez (9-1) (above left) fights Brian Mendoza (18-0) in Las Vegas on Saturday, Nov. 30, in a fight that will be streamed on ESPN-Plus. It's part of a major card that features a few championship fights. As I mentioned, the Gomez v Mendoza bout is scheduled to be on the stream. The prelims will be streamed on ESPN-Plus beginning at 4:30 p.m. That's the best time to start watching. ESPN-Plus costs about $5 a month.

Larry has had a superb career to date; we wish him the best. The fight card is on this page.

In other news:

Mixed martial artist Aaron Thomson, of Utah, who had a good amateur career the last several years, made his pro debut recently, and it was a successful debut. Aaron, 180 pounds, traveled to Salem, Ore., and on Nov. 16 stopped previously undefeated Tobias Baker in round one,

One Nov. 15 in Salt Lake City, heavyweight contender Junior Fa decisioned Devin Vargas to win the WBO Oriental Heavyweight Title. The entire card, at the Salt Palace, is here.

On Aug. 22, in Salt Lake City, young professionals Lehi Dominguez, 155 pounds, and Hayden Brown, 170 pounds, scored wins in the main bouts of our local promoter, SteelFist MMA card. The results for all the fights are on this page.

Valentine, Guillemin win bouts, boxing card scheduled

Saturday night, in an MMA card in Colorado Springs, Colo., a couple of Northern Utah fighters participated. Amateur Brittany Guillemin, of Layton, scored a decision win over Brandi Hancock (29-28 on all cards).

In a professional bout, Eric Munoz, of Ogden, suffered his first loss as a pro against veteran Josh Watson. In the second round a punch from Watson broke Munoz' nose, leading to a stoppage.

In Las Vegas, in a no-submission match, John Valentine stopped Arron Carson at around two minutes. Both fighters had their moments before Valentine managed a leg lock to force a tap from Carson. Valentine's win came on a card that raised money to assist our Troops.

MMA fighter turned boxer Clay Collard fought on the Alvarev versus Kovalev super-card at MGM Grand in Las Vegas two weekends ago. Collard had enjoyed success barnstorming the nation, defeating prospects. However, his opponent, Bektemir Melikuziev, of Uzbekistan, is one of the top prospects in the world. The UFC fighter Collard was stopped in this bout.

This Friday in Salt Lake City, DiBella Promotions is putting on a boxing card at the Salt Palace. The main event matches heavyweight contender Junior Fa against former Olympian Devin Vargas. The  card is here, on bottom of page. More information is on the poster above.

Some reminders: Super middleweight boxer Larry Gomez has a big fight on Nov. 30, in Las Vegas, fighting undefeated Brian Mendoza on an ESPN Plus card. And SteelFist is back on Nov. 22 in Salt Lake City, at the Union Event Center. Hayden Brown and Lehi Dominguez are professionals competing in separate bouts.