Maidel Sando hopes to continue riding the momentum of an impressive win in his last bout.

Sando will face Clay Collard in a six-round super middleweight bout tonight at the County Fairgrounds in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

The Cuba-born Sando (10-0, 7 knockouts), who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee, defeated Genc Pllana by unanimous decision in his last bout on September 23. The fight, which snapped a string of four consecutive knockout victories, took place on a PBC on FS1 telecast.

The victory over Pllana took place exactly one year after Sando knocked out journeyman Demetrius Walker in round 2. The fight took place in Louisville, Kentucky, where Sando has fought a majority of his fights.

Hector Sando, who manages Maidel, hopes opportunities will comes their way later this year should they win impressively tonight.

“(Tonight) is only a six-round bout, but we’re hoping he will fight in more eight or 10 round fights,” Sando told BoxingScene Friday afternoon. “Our plans are to continue improving and hope to sign on with a promoter so we can get the kind of fights we want. We also hope to become ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies.”

Collard (9-3-3, 4 KOs), who resides in Burley, Idaho, became one of boxing’s top stories in 2020, fighting a total of six times, defeating three unbeaten fighters during that span. Collard was not able to close out 2020 with a victory, losing to then-unbeaten Quincy LaVallais by unanimous decision.

Junior middleweight Francisco Torres will square off against Mississippi’s Louis Hernandez (8-1-1, 6 KOs), who suffered his first loss at the hands of Richard Brewart, Jr. on December 20, in an eight-round bout.

Torres (15-3, 5 KOs), who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, defeated Cleotis Pendarvis by unanimous decision in his last bout on August 15. The 31-year-old has won his last seven bouts since losing by knockout to Sebastian Horacio Papeschi in September 2017.

Junior middleweight Dewone Johnson (13-0, 8 KOs) of Iowa will face Tanzania’s Fabian Lyimo (23-13-2, 15 KOs), who has lost his last six bouts, in a six-round bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.