The breakout star of the Bubble, “Cassius” Clay Collard, is back for more. Collard, the MMA pro-turned contender for 2020 “Boxing Prospect of the Year,” will fight Quincy LaVallais in an eight-round middleweight bout on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez undercard on October 17 from the MGM Grand Las Vegas Conference Center. It is a rematch of their June 2019 fight, which was ruled a draw.
Collard-LaVallais 2 and additional undercard bouts, including a 10-round junior welterweight clash between top prospect Josue “The Prodigy” Vargas and Kendo Castaneda, will stream live on ESPN+.
Then the action shifts to ESPN for the Lomachenko-Lopez world championship main event, the 10-round junior welterweight battle between Alex Saucedo and Arnold Barboza Jr., and an eight-round super middleweight tilt featuring knockout king Edgar Berlanga against Lanell Bellows.
“A marquee main event deserves marquee supporting fights, and we have an incredible lineup in store underneath Lomachenko-Lopez,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Vargas can graduate to contender with a win over Castaneda, and Clay Collard is back to once again put on a show. Tune in early to ESPN+ to kick off an incredible night of boxing.”
Collard (9-2-3, 4 KOs), who is 5-0 with 3 knockouts in 2020, began the year with three victories over previously undefeated prospects. In January, he toppled the 9-0 Quashawn Toler by unanimous decision in Toler’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. The following month, he knocked out the 5-0 Raymond Guajardo in the second round of a bout that saw both men hit the canvas. He made his Bubble debut June 18 and battered the 6-0 David Kaminsky en route to a split decision nod. Collard has notched knockouts in his last two Bubble bouts and returns against LaVallais (9-0-1, 5 KOs), a native of Kenner, La. Collard and LaVallais fought in New Orleans, and LaVallais escaped with the draw. LaVallais has won two fights since, both by first-round stoppage.
“I’m a born fighter, and I’m grateful to be back on such a significant card,” Collard said. “When Quincy and I fought the first time, I knew I’d done enough to win, but we were in his hometown. We’re fighting on neutral ground this time.”
Vargas (17-1, 9 KOs), and his teeth, made an impression in his last bout. Vargas lost a veneer, but still managed to nearly shut out Salvador Briceno over 10 rounds in an ESPN-televised co-feature. He has won 11 consecutive fights and takes a step up against Castaneda (17-2, 8 KOs), a San Antonio-born boxer-puncher coming of a competitive decision loss in July to Jose “Chon” Zepeda.
In other undercard bouts scheduled for ESPN+:
Jose Enrique Vivas (19-1, 10 KOs) vs. John Vincent Moralde (23-3, 13 KOs)
8 Rounds, Featherweight
Quinton Randall (6-0, 2 KOs) vs. Jan Carlos Rivera (4-0, 4 KOs)
6 Rounds, Welterweight
Jahi Tucker (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Charles Garner (1-0)
4 Rounds, Welterweight
That Collard is exciting and fun to watch Ill be looking forward to seeing him get better and better with each fight.
Win, lose or draw…Collard is a tough dude, and I hope he makes plenty of money for his family and/or for himself.
Arturo and E-Man, I second your comments. It’ll be cool to see how far he makes it.