Super middleweight David Kaminsky lost a bloody six-round battle to Clay Collard tonight inside "The Bubble" at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight. Collard, an awkward pressure fighter, outworked the more skilled southpaw.
Both fighters established their game plans in the opening round. Collard rushed forward with his left leg often crossing in front of his right. He fired punches without concern for proper technique or aesthetics. Meanwhile, Kaminsky kept his hands down, aspiring to showcase his blazing hand speed. Even when the 19 year old Israeli-native landed his quick counters, Collard brushed them off and kept charging. Late in the round, Collard threw a straight right, and the wrist of the glove scratched the skin near Kaminsky's left eye drawing blood in the process.
In the second, Kaminsky managed to time Collard's rushes a bit better and Clay's nose oozed out blood. It was a close round as Kaminsky's hard blows may have overtaken Collard's sheer work-rate. Collard inexplicably stayed on the outside for much of the third round, and Kaminsky shrewdly began attacking the body of the 27 year old from Utah.
Collard snatched the fight back in the fourth. His pressure was relentless, and he managed to punctuate many of his unorthodox combinations with his hard skull. As a result, Kaminsky's face looked like that of an automobile accident victim. Referee Vic Drakulich should have warned Collard about the butts. Kaminsky managed to land an effective body shot in the round, but if an indomitable will determined success, Collard would be a world champion. The fifth and sixth rounds were more of the same. Kaminsky slipped in a nice body shot here and there and threw eye-catching head punches, but Collard's offense was unceasing.
Two judges saw the fight 58-56 for Clay Collard while one judge saw it Kaminsky's way by the same score. The JBB scored the bout 58-56 for Collard.
The JBB mentioned that this was a potential trap fight for Kaminsky, who falls to 6-1 with 3 KOs. Collard, who is now 7-2-3 with two KOs, has everything in an opponent a young fighter should avoid. He is a winning MMA veteran who fought in the UFC; he is very awkward, very tough, and unrelenting; and he has beaten or drawn with a number of prospects, including southpaws.
This loss could be a turning point in David's career. The fear is that the loss could damage his confidence. In reality, it was just the wrong fight for him, and it presents an opportunity to learn. Making weight appeared to be an issue, understandable considering the limitations created by COVID-19. In the ring, David needed to move subtly to either side when Collard rushed in, instead of trying to time him or moving straight back. At that point, Collard would be out of position and Kaminsky could land with out worrying about Collard's head. Kaminsky also started his body attack too late in the fight. Collard is now 6-1 in his last seven fights; that lone loss was to Olympic medalist Bektemir Melikuziev, a southpaw who established center ring early and then finished Collard with a body attack in the fourth round. Kaminsky seemed to try to follow Melikuziev's path, but once it wasn't working in the first round, he needed to shift his strategy.
In defeat Kaminsky would do well to remember something an old Jewish trainer, Whitey Bimstein, once said, "Show me an undefeated fighter and I'll show a guy who's never fought anybody." Kaminsky now has fought someone.
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