At some point, Clay Collard’s tour of bumping off unbeaten rising talent will have to land him in consideration for Prospect of the Year.

The sport’s fastest rising spoiler claimed another victim, dealing middleweight southpaw David Kaminsky his first career defeat following a six-round decision win Thursday evening at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

It required sweating out a split decision, Judge Patricia Morse Jarman should have to explain to the Nevada State Athletic Commission her scorecard of 58-56 in favor of Kaminsky. Fortunately, she was overruled by judges Lisa Giampa and Dave Moretti who each scored it 58-56 in favor of Collard.

"I was nervous when they were reading the cards," Collard told BoxingScene.com after the fight, his eighth against an unbeaten opponent in just 12 pro starts. "But I felt like I'd done more than enough to earn the decision." 

Collard made his presence felt early, forcing Kaminsky—a 19-year old Israeli prospect now based out of Tarzana, California—to shift gears after suffering a cut midway through the opening round. A right hand shot from Collard caused the damage, which initially went undetected by Vic Drakulich but picked up via replay between rounds by Bob Bennett, executive director of Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Kaminsky—who signed with Top Rank as a 17-year old in 2018—settled into a groove in round two, connecting with straight left hands and beginning to time his aggressive foe. Collard continued to enjoy success with his right and left uppercut but was also leaving himself open for counter left hands and body shots.

Solid two-way action came of a fast-paced round three. Kaminsky continued to target the midsection of Collard, though at least one punch straying too low. Collard shook off the blow but was forced to collect himself after a clash of heads. Kaminsky continued to come forward, sneaking in body shots in between awkward right hands and compact left uppercuts by Collard.

Signs of another prospect biting the dust were never more evident than round four, where Kaminsky struggled to slow down Collard’s unconventional attack. Collard continued to charge forward, sometimes landing and other times just throwing punches for the sake of it but remaining in control of the action.

Kaminsky bit down and fought back in a high-contact round five. Collard pushed through with right hands, while Kaminsky responded with straight lefts on the inside. Neither boxer gave an inch of space, much to the delight of home viewers along with limited essential personnel on hand in an otherwise crowdless venue.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Collard came racing out the gate to start the 6th and final round. Right hand shots continued to be the weapon of choice for Collard, who was able to slip Kaminsky’s preferred mode of attack—straight lefts for which he spent far too much time trying to set up. Collard outworked the rising prospect every step of the way down the stretch, throwing in combination at close quarters as Kaminsky finished the fight with a cut left eye, swollen right eye and a bloodied mouth.

As the judges got it right, he also ended with his first career defeat in falling to 6-1 (3KOs).

Collard rolls to 7-2-3 (2KOs), bumping off his third straight unbeaten foe. The win comes four months after climbing off the canvas to knock out Raymond Guajardo in two rounds this past February live on FS1.

"I just love this s***, dude," Collard exclaimed prior to being taken to the ringside physician. "I love to fight and love fighting real guys. Otherwise, what's the point?"

 The bout served as part of a five-fight telecast headlined by a makeshift main event between unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Gabriel Flores Jr. (17-0, 6KOs) and Miami-based Nicaraguan lightweight Josec Ruiz (21-2-3, 14KOs).

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox