Eye of the Tiger Management played big in Thursday’s card at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal. And the team led by Camille Estephan, Antonin Décarie, Virginie Assaly and Marc Ramsay won big.
Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse became the team’s first world champion since David Lemieux. Steven Butler returned to the limelight with a knockout. bursting onto the airwaves of a major American network. And if he missed his first impression at the weigh-in, the new jewel of EOTTM Osleys Iglesias did not miss his return to the ring with his new group, signing an expeditious victory.
Enough to put a smile on the face of everyone involved.
“I told myself that it shouldn’t end in a mess and I was confident that Steven was going to finish well,” Estephan said once the evening was over. He works well with [son nouvel entraîneur] John Scully, he listens to him well. He has everything you need, the experience, the power. A guy who is so powerful can turn off the lights quickly as we have seen.
“It’s a real boost to the top. He was on ESPN+ in the United States, people can see that he has this asset. This power is innate, you have it or you don’t. »
This power was quickly felt in this duel, which lasted only 65 seconds. From the first right from Butler (34-4-1, 28 KOs), Steve Rolls (22-4, 12 KOs) found himself sitting in the cables, no longer knowing why he was there.
“John wanted me to hit him with my first right. I did it,” Butler said. I don’t wish harm on anyone, but he didn’t remember me touching him. I have the power to take the knockout. to anyone in the world. »
This association with Scully was desired by Estephan. Not that Eye of the Tiger has anything to criticize about Rénald Boisvert, who managed Butler until his defeat at the hands of Zhanibek Alimkhanuly last May. But the boss wanted to see Butler completely change his ways of doing things.
“It wasn’t just a question of changing the coach, I wanted him to change everything from A to Z. I wanted him to do his training camp away, I didn’t want him comes home with young children. He’s a professional athlete and he needs to concentrate and rest. This is what he lacked to develop his tools and really experience a professional camp. That’s what he did and that’s what we saw. »
First champion
Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) not only became the first EOTTM champion since Lemieux in 2015, she also became the first boxer from the stable to become champion. Only she and Artur Beterbiev currently have world titles in Quebec.
“Vanessa, what a fight!” I want to see a rematch, said Estephan about the split decision victory of the boxer from St-André-Avellin against Argentina Abril Argentina Vidal (10-2, 4 KOs). I’ts women’s Day [vendredi], we couldn’t have written a better script! One of the most beautiful fights I have seen personally. »
“I’ve really worked hard for several years and it’s finally paying off,” said Lepage-Joanisse, suppressing sobs. It’s a lot of sacrifice. I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of my team. […] This belt isn’t just for me, it’s for everyone behind me. »
Iglesias impresses
As a final main course, EOTTM offered the first performance in Quebec of its new protégé. Iglesias (10-0, 9), world champion of the International Boxing Organization (IBO) super-middleweight, took only 2:07 to settle the case of the Argentinian Marcelo Coceres (32-7-1 , 18 KOs), who had nevertheless made the limit against another hope of Estephan at 168 pounds, Erik Bazinyan, last year.
Estephan said this week that with Iglesias, Bazinyan and Christian Mbilli, Eye of the Tiger was the best-positioned group at 168 pounds.
With a world champion and two contenders among the top five in the world from the four major sanctioning bodies, one would be inclined to believe so. It remains to be seen whether there will be room in the long term for this triumvirate within the group.