MONTREAL – Kim Clavel had promised to show that her opponent Mariela Ribera Valverde had no business in the same ring as her. The Quebecer had no trouble keeping her word.
The WBC light flyweight silver belt holder taught the Bolivian a boxing lesson before the latter threw in the towel after the fourth round on Friday night in the final of a Groupe Yvon gala Michel (GYM) presented at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal.
With this victory, Clavel (15-0, 3 K.-O.) confirms her fight against the WBC champion Yesenia Gomez which will probably be organized on April 21 in Montreal. She would normally have faced the Mexican on December 17 at the Bell Center, but a lower-body injury forced the Quebecer to forfeit. A new date had meanwhile been mentioned in the spring, but it was Gomez who had asked for a new postponement.
Germain makes a successful debut with GYM
With a replacement opponent warned with a reprieve of only 72 hours, many expected Mathieu Germain to make short work of Erick Inzunga Angulo, but things finally turned out to be a tad more complicated for the Quebec boxer. .
Playing a first fight under the colors of GYM, Germain (20-2-1, 9 K.-O) indeed won by stoppage of the referee at 1:11 of the 8th round, after having to deal with a nasty cut to the right eye suffered in the 2nd round and whose bleeding disturbed him throughout the duel.
“It was my first cut in life, explained Germain. Truth be told, I didn’t even know I was cut. I couldn’t see and wondered what was going on. I thought it was [mon adversaire] which was cut. In 20 years, that had never happened to me. I had to live it, I guess. »
In addition to his cut, Germain admitted that he was a little rusty, he who had not fought since his victory by split decision of the judges against Steve Claggett in May 2021 in Quebec.
“I put more pressure on myself than I had imagined,” admitted Germain. A new coach (Stéphan Larouche), a new promoter (Yvon Michel), it seems like I wanted to do too much. I thought I was going to outbox it. I managed to stop him and that’s all that matters. »
The 32-year-old hopes his eye injury will heal as quickly as possible so he can get back in the ring very soon. He doesn’t want to be inactive for so long at his age.
“I was introduced as the 2008 Canadian champion, but people forget that I was ranked 7th in the IBF not so long ago,” recalled Germain. The goal is to return to the world rankings. I have 2 losses and 9 wins by knockout. The phone will definitely ring for an optional defense. I have never refused an opponent since the beginning of my career. »
In undercard
In opening, Alexis Barrière (5-0, 4 K.-O.) remained undefeated by forcing Israel Nava Lopez (2-1) to retire after the 2nd round. Heading past his Mexican opponent, Barrière had absolutely no trouble blocking and dodging Lopez’s telegraphed punches. The Quebecer also allowed himself to send him to the mat in the last moments of the 2nd assault.
In the other fights featured on the undercard, Derek Pormerleau (1-0, 1 KO) made a spectacular debut in the professional ranks by knocking out Daniel Beaupré (1-1) after only 14 seconds. In a scene reminiscent of the best episodes of The Jerry Springer Show, responders from the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux quickly intervened after the referee had stopped the duel to avoid any spillage, the two boxers having exchanged sweet words on social media over the past few days.
