By William Dumoulin
Photo credit: New Era
From the founding of the New Era boxing promotion, the emphasis has always been on local fights. This Saturday's gala, presented at the Cogeco Expo Center in Drummondville, was no exception. Six of the seven fights presented were 100% Canadian clashes, including the main fight, pitting Jan-Michael Poulin against Sébastien Bouchard for the Canadian super welterweight title.
In the final, as previously mentioned, the current Canadian middleweight champion, Jan-Michael Poulin (10-1-3, 2 KOs), and the resident of Baie-Saint-Paul, Sébastien Bouchard (20-4-1, 9 KO), faced each other in a 100% Quebec duel. The first three rounds were more timid and technical than expected, but by the fourth round, a bloody war broke out as both boxers increased the level of intensity. Poulin, however, had the advantage on the judges' cards, earning a unanimous decision victory (96-94 X 2, 97-93), becoming Canadian champion in a second weight division. What a fight! We wouldn't say no to a revenge.
In the semifinals, crowd favorite Jordan Balmir (11-2, 5 KOs) was back in the ring after 2 years of inactivity. He was opposed to Toronto's Daniel Roach (2-4-2, 0 KO). Balmir won the fight by unanimous decision (58-56 X 3) in a tougher clash than expected. The latter seemed hampered by a knee injury.
Terry Osias (13-0, 6 KO) also made his return to the ring after about 1 year of inactivity. He faced Marcos Nicolas Karalitzky (8-9-2, 2 KOs) in a fight scheduled for 6 rounds. Terry dominated the fight at distance and won by unanimous decision (59-55 X 2, 60-54).
In a clash between two boxers starting their professional careers, former mixed martial arts fighter Olivier Rhein (0-1, 0 KO) faced Drummondvillois Steven Généreux (1-0, 1 KO). The latter sent Rhein to the mat in the 2nd round, and the referee ended the hostilities in the 3rd round.
Repentigny prospect David Canuel (0-1, 0 KO) began his professional career against Montrealer Justin Grant (2-2, 1 KO). The latter demonstrated that he was much better than his record, sending Canuel to the mat in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. The fight ended in a unanimous decision victory (39-35 X 3) for Grant.
Drummondville native Jean François Mosimann (0-1, 0 KO), who previously fought professionally in kickboxing, faced Carl Demontigny (1-0, 0 KO). Once again, both boxers were making their professional debuts. Demontigny demonstrated his technical superiority by winning the fight by unanimous decision (38-36, 39-35 X 2).
To open the gala, Simon Risler (0-0-1, 0 KO) faced left-hander Guillaume Gosselin (0-0-1, 0 KO) in a 4-round welterweight fight. Although both boxers were fighting professionally for the first time, it was a rematch of their encounter in the amateur ranks, in the Golden Gloves semi-final. They will likely have to face each other again, as this time the fight ended in a draw on all three judges' cards (38-38 X 3).
