World Championship Fights Abroad - A Tough Task for Quebec Fighters
Inside the Matchmaker’s Eye
By Vincent Morin
Very few Quebec-born pugilists can claim to have won a world championship bout on foreign soil. On December 19 in Miami, Leila Beaudoin will try to change that narrative, live on Netflix, on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul fight, as she takes on the electrifying American Alycia Baumgardner. In doing so, she will also become the first Canadian woman in history to compete in a 12-round fight contested in three-minute rounds.
In the modern era, only Artur Beterbiev, Eleider Alvarez, Jean Pascal, Bermane Stiverne, and Joachim Alcine have managed to win world title fights outside their home country. Years earlier, Arturo Gatti, Leonard Dorin, Éric Lucas, and Otis Grant accomplished the same feat.
Artur Beterbiev unified all the light heavyweight titles (175 lbs) against Dmitry Bivol on October 12, 2024, in Riyadh, before losing his belts in the rematch on February 22, once again in Saudi Arabia.
Jean Pascal captured the WBA Interim light heavyweight title against American Olympian Marcus Browne on August 3, 2019, in Brooklyn, before defeating multi-time world champion Badou Jack on December 28, 2019, in Atlanta. Earlier in his career, Pascal had come up short in England in 2008 against Carl Froch for the WBC super middleweight title, and again in 2018 in Atlantic City against Dmitry Bivol for the WBA light heavyweight crown.
Eleider Alvarez scored a stunning knockout of Russian Sergey Kovalev on August 4, 2018, in Atlantic City to claim the WBO light heavyweight title. He later lost the rematch by unanimous decision on February 2, 2019, in Frisco, Texas.
Bermane Stiverne, a former member of Canada’s amateur national team who has resided in the United States since turning professional, pulled off the feat of winning the WBC heavyweight championship by defeating California’s Chris Arreola in 2014 in Los Angeles. He later suffered two losses to the powerful American puncher Deontay Wilder in 2015 and 2017, before dropping a decision to Trevor Bryan for the WBA title in 2021 in Hollywood, Florida.
Joachim Alcine captured the WBA super welterweight title against American Travis Simms on July 7, 2007, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Leonard Dorin became the WBA lightweight world champion (135 lbs) by defeating Argentina’s Raul Balbi on January 5, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas. He successfully defended his crown against Balbi again in May 2002 in Romania, before fighting to a draw in a WBC–IBF unification bout against American southpaw Paul Spadafora on May 17, 2003, in Pittsburgh. On July 24, 2004, in Atlantic City, Dorin attempted to capture the WBC super lightweight title (140 lbs), but was stopped by a body shot knockout at the hands of Montreal-born Arturo Gatti.
Also in 2002, Éric Lucas defended his WBC super middleweight title (168 lbs) against American Vinny Pazienza at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. He later lost his belt in 2003 following a controversial decision defeat in Germany against Markus Beyer. In his final title attempt, in 2006 in Denmark, he fell short against Mikkel Kessler for the WBA championship.
Otis Grant also succeeded in capturing a WBO middleweight world title (160 lbs) in 1997 in the United Kingdom, earning a unanimous decision victory over Ryan Rhodes. In 1998, at Foxwoods Casino, he moved up to light heavyweight to challenge the unified champion and pound-for-pound king of the era, Roy Jones Jr., but was stopped by TKO in the 10th round.
In 1997, Arturo Gatti headlined boxing cards in Atlantic City. He won the IBF super featherweight title (130 lbs) against Tracy Harris Patterson before defending it against Gabriel Ruelas. In 2004, still in what was dubbed the “East Coast Vegas,” he reclaimed world champion status at super lightweight (140 lbs) by winning the vacant WBC title against Italy’s Gianluca Branco. After two successful defenses against Leonard Dorin and Jesse James Leija, Gatti lost his crown to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on June 25, 2005.
David Lemieux (vs. Gennady Golovkin and David Benavidez), Oscar Rivas (vs. Dillian Whyte), Steven Butler (vs. Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Ryota Murata), Steve Claggett (vs. Teofimo Lopez), Lucian Bute (vs. Carl Froch), Kevin Bizier (vs. Kell Brook), JoJo Dan (vs. Kell Brook), Dierry Jean (vs. Terence Crawford), Benoit Gaudet (vs. Humberto Soto), Sébastien Demers (vs. Arthur Abraham), Herman Ngoudjo (vs. Paulie Malignaggi), and Antonin Décarie (vs. Souleymane M’baye) also attempted—unsuccessfully—to win or defend a world title on the road.
On the women’s side, Jessica Camara, Marie-Ève Dicaire, Marie-Pier Houle, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, and Danielle Bouchard all attempted to capture major world titles abroad, but none were able to return home victorious. Let us hope that Leila Beaudoin can become the first to accomplish this remarkable feat.
