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 Spain’s Fara El Bousairi (8-4, 3 KOs) by majority decision at the end of a wild fight, which often got the crowd at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal going, filled to capacity for the occasion.
This was the fifth fight of the evening, all equally good. Exactly the kind of evening that Groupe Yvon Michel needed in these times.
“You know me, I’m honest, I wasn’t going to give you bullshit, we had a bad night. We had all seen the same thing,” said Bernard Barré, vice-president, recruitment and development at GYM, about the gala on March 7, where the last two fights, those of Caroline Veyre and Mathieu Germain, had somewhat saved the day.
“This time, we all saw the same thing, too, and we’re all excited, because it was a damn good night. Our stars — Clavel, [Marie-Pier] Houle and [Derek] Pomerleau — all performed well.”
He could add the names of Reid Twohey (1-0) and Theo Owusu (4-0, 2 KOs), who started the evening in brilliant fashion against high-quality opponents from the Czech Republic.
Pomerleau (8-0, 6 KOs) then delivered a hard-hitting right hook to the body of Carlos Rodriguez to close the books early in the second round. That knockout was followed by Houle’s (10-1-1, 3 KOs) technical knockout, 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 a turning point in that camp, I felt ready, I felt like 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 the elite.”
“Honestly, Sebastien Gauthier [her coach] is doing a good job. She’s constantly improving,” Barré said. “She may not be at Katie Taylor [the four-association champion], but she may not have been at Sandy Ryan and she gave her a good fight. She’s a little over 30; her career will end at some point. It’ll be up to us to judge when that time comes.”
As for Pomerleau, the “free agent” did not hide the fact that he wanted to reach an agreement with GYM, whose president, Yvon Michel, stated a few weeks ago that it was under reconstruction.
“I’m 110% willing to sign. There’s good news coming soon. Maybe even in the next few days,” Pomerleau assured. “It’s looking good with Yvon.”
Barré did not want to get involved so much, but he admitted the group’s interest in the Châteauguay boxer.
“He’s definitely getting close to an agreement. To date, he hadn’t been challenged, so we weren’t getting upset with his seven wins. The real test was [Thursday] night. The Mexican was tough. To see him cut his legs off like that was great.
“Stéphan Larouche [his coach] has no time to waste,” Barré continued. “To see that he’s taking time like that with him is a good sign. He’s left-handed, he’s powerful, he has great amateur experience, he’s already won a medal for Canada at the Continental Championships. All of that makes you think.”
GYM will present its next event on May 16, still at the Casino. Mazlum Akdeniz (19-0, 8 KOs) will then ensure the final, against an opponent to be revealed shortly. If Clavel, Houle and Pomerleau were all to be part of the card, it will be an evening to mark on your agenda.
