The crowd gathered at Place Bell on Friday night eagerly awaited the unification fight between Kim Clavel and Yesica Nery Plata. Meanwhile, two other Groupe Yvon Michel boxers, namely Marie-Pier Houle and Caroline Veyre, have significantly improved the undercard, as has Mazlum Akdeniz.

Shortly before the highlight of the evening, Akdeniz (18-0, 8 KOs) secured the defense of his continental WBC Americas title by defeating Cristian Bielma (19-5-2, 7 KOs). He knocked out the man nicknamed “El Gato Gordo” in the third, fifth, and seventh rounds. But the super-light cat seemed to have nine lives … The Longueuillois finally had to wait for the decision, unanimous after 10 attacks (three maps of 100-87), to raise his arms to the sky.

“That was to my liking,” commented Akdeniz, who would have wished for a knockout. It was the first defense of my title, but there will be more.

Houle (8-0-1, 2 KOs) was also in his first eight-round duel of his career. His hard-fought win over Marisol Moreno (6-4, 0 KOs) could now open the doors for him in an upcoming duel with a minor belt. Although some defensive weaknesses still call for caution… All things considered, Moreno will finish with a more swollen face, particularly under the right eye.

“In my mind before the verdict it was maybe a draw. Honestly, the judge who gave me all the rounds, I don’t think that was it. I was struggling to find my distance at the beginning of the fight,” the 32-year-old athlete, originally from Mauricie, remarked openly at the end of the duel won unanimously by the judges (80-72, 79-73 and 77-75) .

A colorful spectacle

For her part, Caroline Veyre (2-0, 2 KOs) won early in the evening by unanimous decision with three identical cards 60-54 against Estefania Franco. The Mexican, who wore pigtails in her country’s colors, suffered some good punches until the last minute of the fight.

“I know I hurt her and slowed her down during the fight,” commented Veyre, a Tokyo Olympic competitor and a gold medalist at the Toronto Pan American Games (2015), before turning professional boxing. Unfortunately I couldn’t stop him, but it was a spectacularly good fight.

Other fights

Derek Pomerleau, now unbeaten in four fights, defeated Gustava Magana Rodriguez by a unanimous decision of the judges.

The evening of six fights began with a duel dominated by Canadian Eric Basran against Mexican Juan Carlos Garcia (4:3, 0 KO). The Vancouver athlete, also a unanimous winner, signed a third win in as many duels among professionals.

– Among the spectators present at Laval were some athletes, including former boxer Lucian Bute, who has not lost his popularity with fans. The Alouettes’ Anthony Calvillo and Danny Maciocia were there, as was… comedian Jean-Thomas Jobin, a recreational hockey player. Finally, a few players from the Montreal Twins, from the Senior A.