Clay Collard Saturday Bout Off After Covid 19 Diagnosis

A fighter who had become somewhat of a fascinating story in the Top Rank Las Vegas bubble this Summer will not be able to participate on the undercard of the latest fight card Saturday. This after Middleweight Clay Collard tested positive for Covid-19 just days before his next bout.

ESPN’s Steve Kim had the story first confirming with the Top Rank  source and then, with Collard himself, that he was informed of the positive test Tuesday afternoon prior to even traveling to Las Vegas,

Collard, 9-2-3, was slated to fight Quincy LaVallais on the undercard of the highly anticipated Vasiliy Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez World Lightweight Unification title fight at the MGM Grand Convention Center.

OK, no need to kill the messenger, but Clay Collard is off the Loma-Lopez undercard this weekend… #boxing https://t.co/RQgod1qQBI

— Steve Kim (@StevESPNKim) October 14, 2020

As we wrote about previously, Collard has become underdog, fan favorite having pulled off several upsets this calendar year. The one-time UFC fighter improved to 5-0 on the year in August with a second-round TKO over an overmatched Maurice Williams. Three previous times in 2020 Collard upset a favored fighter by stoppage.

On being so active, even with the pandemic in effect this year, Collard said a couple of months ago,

“I’m just a fighter. I like getting out there as often as possible and entertaining the fans. I appreciate all the love and support from the fans, and I enjoy putting on a show for them,” Collard said. “Listen, I’ll fight as often as possible. I love fighting on these Top Rank shows, and I look forward to the next one. This has been quite the ride

Earlier on Tuesday, it was speculated that Collard was going to have to withdraw from the Saturday opportunity after both his brother and a member of his training team were Covid-19 positive. The fight with LaVallais was to have been a rematch of their six round draw from June of 2019.

Collard is the latest fighter to have to withdraw out of the Top Rank bubble, since the sport resumed in June. This included women’s Lightweight Contender, Mikaela Mayer and WBO Junior Lightweight World Champion, Jamel Herring. Both of them, had to withdraw after arriving at the Vegas bubble and then, finding out their Covid 19 positive statuses.

Collard might still have an opportunity to be part of Top Rank show in late November or December, depending on a Top Rank card taking place.