Kim Clavel’s victory put an exclamation point on a superb evening for the Yvon Michel Group at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal on Thursday.
Clavel (18-2, 3 KOs) beat the Spaniard Fara El Bousairi (8-4, 3 KOs) by majority decision at the end of a furious fight, which very often raised the crowd at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal, filled to capacity for the occasion.
This was the fifth fight of the evening, each one as good as the last. Exactly the kind of evening that Groupe Yvon Michel needed these days.
“You know me, I’m honest, I wasn’t going to serve you bull…, we had a bad evening. We had all seen the same thing,” said Bernard Barré, vice-president, recruitment and development at GYM, regarding the gala on March 7, whose last two fights, those of Caroline Veyre and Mathieu Germain, were a bit came to save the day.
“This time we also all saw the same thing and we’re all excited because it was a damn beautiful evening. Our stars — Clavel, [Marie-Pier] Swell and [Derek] Pomerleau — all performed well. »
He would have added the names of Reid Twohey (1-0) and Theo Owusu (4-0, 2 KOs), who started the evening brilliantly against high-quality opponents from the Czech Republic.
Pomerleau (8-0, 6 KOs) then delivered a powerful right hook to the body of Carlos Rodriguez to close the books early in the second round. This knockout was followed by the knockout. technique of Houle (10-1-1, 3 KOs), which forced Argentina’s Marisa Joana Portillo to retire after three rounds.
The latter now wants to fight for a belt as quickly as possible.
“I want a minor belt, or a world championship. I want to go back, she said. I need a belt, my pants are too big!
“There was something that clicked in that camp, I felt ready, I felt that I had the tools,” Houle added more seriously. When I saw what happened between Sandy Ryan and Terri Harper, that Ryan got rid of her like a rag doll and I went 10 rounds with her, I told myself that I was part of of the elite. »
“Sincerely, Sébastien Gauthier [son entraîneur] does a good job. She is constantly improving, Barré noted. She may not have returned to Katie Taylor [la championne des quatre associations], but she might not have gotten to Sandy Ryan and she gave him a good fight. She is a little over 30 years old; his career will end at the given moment. It will be up to us to judge when the time is right. »
As for Pomerleau, the “free agent” made no secret of the fact that he wanted to reach an agreement with GYM, whose president, Yvon Michel, said a few weeks ago that it was under reconstruction.
“110% I want to sign. There is good news coming soon. Perhaps even in the coming days, assured Pomerleau. It looks good with Yvon. »
Barré didn’t want to get so involved, but he admitted the group’s interest in the Châteauguay boxer.
“Indeed, he is getting closer to an agreement. To date, he had not been challenged, so we were not upset with his seven victories. The real test was [jeudi] evening. The Mexican was tough. To see him cut off his legs like that was great.
« Stéphan Larouche [son entraîneur] has no time to lose, Barré continued. To see him taking time like that with himself is a good sign. He is left-handed, he has power, he has great amateur experience, he has already won a medal for Canada at the Continental Championships. All this makes you think. »
GYM will present its next event on May 16, still at the Casino. Mazlum Akdeniz (19-0, 8 KOs) will then secure the final, against an opponent to be revealed shortly. If Clavel, Houle and Pomerleau all make the card, it will be an evening worth marking on your calendar.