(Laval) The spectators ended the evening on the edge of their seats, but the final fight did not end in favor of the local favorite.
Kim Clavel fought valiantly, but lost to Yesica Nery Plata in a unification bout for the WBC and WBA world light flyweight championship belts on Friday night at Place Bell in Laval.
The swollen face, Clavel could not hold back his tears as he appeared before the journalists a few minutes after the first defeat of his career in his 17the confrontation.
“Congratulations to Nery Plata, she is really a tough opponent, she is not world champion for nothing”, recognized the Quebecer, who thus lost her WBC world title at the first opportunity after her conquest in July.
“I think we put on a good show, but it was a Friday the 13th for me… Kidding aside, I learned a lot in that fight. Life isn’t always perfect. I have my team behind me. We always want to be victorious. I would have liked to go for a beer at the Cage aux Sports, finally I’m going to go home to put some ice cream in my face…”
The first boxer in the province, of all genders, to fight a unification fight at home, the 32-year-old athlete was moved to learn that 4,126 spectators had come to encourage her, the “little Quebecer”.
His entry into Where the Streets Have No Namefrom U2, with former world champion Lucian Bute at his side, was chilling.
“I fought with my heart, with my guts,” noted the winner, as if she needed to point out the obvious. “I know I can do even better. That’s the beauty of this sport. »
More calm, more precise, more incisive, Nery Plata (29-2, 3 KOs) has almost never given her rival the opportunity to touch her with her combinations.
I felt it was really tight. Sometimes it was blow for blow. She laid traps for me. She had a good left hook. I certainly could have been more careful defensively. I was thinking maybe a draw, I was hoping, but quite honestly I felt like I might have lost by a round or two.
Kim Clavel
The Joliette native took “the blame on [ses] shoulders”, reproaching himself for not having “delivered the goods”.
Nery Plata was happy to have taken advantage of his jab. “We knew she was fast, you really had to connect power shots to be able to unify the titles,” reacted the boxer from Mexico City.
Her father and trainer revealed that he shed some weight on his daughter, who conceded almost four pounds to her rival at the weigh-in, to gain some speed. “It paid off tonight. »
Nery Plata said she was willing to give Clavel a rematch, but at home in Mexico. The Quebecer did not want to think about it right away.
We gave quite a fight, it was certainly not flat, but today, I don’t think about later, I don’t think about a rematch, I just want to settle, take the time to watch my fight and m sit with my team. I want to improve and correct these little shortcomings that will make me a unified champion.
Kim Clavel
Alongside her, her trainer Danielle Bouchard shared her pride in the performance of her protégé. “We lost, but we lost more than honorably. »
At the start of the conference, Yvon Michel underlined how the duel had been hotly contested, indicating that “eight rounds were shared out of 10” on the judges’ cards. “At times it was almost unreal how intense it was, how high level it was. »
Defeat or not, Clavel has demonstrated that she is a “true girl in the final”, insisted the promoter. “It does not matter whether she is world champion or not, I am convinced that we will be able [d’attirer] a lot of people. We’re just going to take plan B. »
For the moment, apart from the ice cream on his face, Clavel had only one desire: to eat the hot dogs. steamed that she promised herself on Saturday…