Steven Butler surprises the boxing world - Summary of the evening

By William Dumoulin

A big local Quebec-Ontario duel and a new world champion for Quebec, Thursday's gala was exciting for several reasons. Here is a complete summary of the boxing evening presented by Eye of the Tiger Management (EOTTM) at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal.

In the most anticipated duel of the evening, Montreal's Steven Butler (34-4-1, 28 KOs) faced Toronto's Steve Rolls (22-4, 12 KOs). Many had predicted a defeat for the Quebecer. He was the underdog at Mise O Jeu. To everyone's surprise, Butler demolished Rolls in the first round, demonstrating his very dangerous punching power. This will allow Steven to dream of big fights after this explosive performance against a veteran of the middleweight division.

In the co-main event of the gala, EOTTM's new signee, Osleys Iglesias (10-0, 9 KOs), faced veteran Marcelo Coceres (32-7-1, 18 KOs). The latter had held his own against elites of the super middleweight division such as Billy Joe Saunders, Edgar Berlanga, and Erik Bazinyan. However, the Cuban did not waste time in his Quebec debut, knocking out Coceres in the first round. Having not boxed for very long, Iglesias could be back as early as May.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) returned to the world championship 7 years after her last attempt. She faced former world title challenger Abril Argentina Vidal (10-2, 4 KOs) for the same WBC heavyweight title that had eluded her in 2017. In a hotly contested bout, Joanisse emerged victorious by split decision (97-93 X 2, 94-96). She thus becomes the only female world champion in Quebec.

It was a routine outing for Arthur Biyarslanov (14-0, 12 KOs), who faced Christian Palma (33-14-2, 7 KOs). The Montrealer made short work of his opponent, winning by TKO in the 3rd round.

Luis Santana (11-0, 5 KOs) returned after a nearly 6-month layoff. Luis showed no signs of rust as he won his bout by TKO in the 2nd round against his opponent, Florida resident Emiliano Garcia (19-10-1, 13 KOs).

Former Olympian Mehmet Unal (9-0, 7 KOs) showed some of his technical limitations in a timid duel against Facundo Nicolas Galovar (15-11-2, 9 KOs), who had previously gone the distance with Albert Ramirez. Unal won the duel by unanimous decision (80-72 X 2, 78-73).

To open the gala, the two young prospects, Wilkens Mathieu (8-0, 5 KOs) and John Orobio (7-0, 7 KOs), returned in 6-round fights. Both won their respective bouts by TKO in the 2nd round against Patrik Fiala (8-5-2, 5 KOs) and Cristian Gonzalez (12-20-1, 6 KOs).

Eye of the Tiger will be back on April 11th, again at the Casino de Montréal, with an all-Quebec duel between Erik Bazinyan (32-0, 23 KOs) and Shakeel Phinn (26-3-1, 17 KOs).