By Vincent Morin
It is not only in Quebec that professional boxing arouses passions in the country. Last Saturday in Hamilton, Ontario, six duels were presented by the Three Lions Promotion group. However, of these six fights, no less than three protégés of the Ontario firm were surprised by their opponents.
In the final of the evening, local favorite Antonio Napolitano (8-1-1, 4 KOs) suffered the first defeat of his career in front of his compatriot Ryan Young (16-5, 11 KOs). The latter got his hands on the Canadian middleweight title (160 lbs) thanks to a victory by majority decision (99-91, 95-95 and 97-93) in 10 rounds.
In the super-middleweight (168 lbs), Ontario hopeful John Michael Bianco (7-1, 3 KOs) soiled his immaculate record against Croatian slugger Mate Rudan (7-0, 7 KOs), who stopped the fighter maple leaf at 2:08 of the third attack.
The third surprise of the evening took place during the clash between Nova Scotian middleweight Brett Beaton (5-2, 4 KOs) and Mexican Leonel Castanon (5-4-1, 3 KOs). The visitor, who now has three consecutive victories in Canada, won by TKO at 1:12 of the fifth round.
In the welterweight (147 lbs), Ontarian Carolyn Redmond (7-2, 3 KOs) defeated the former IBF super featherweight world champion, Claudia Andrea Lopez (26-17, 6 KOs), by unanimous decision (59-55, 59-55 and 60-54) in six rounds.
For her baptism in the paying ranks, the young Mexican Meilyn Sanchez Martinez (1-0, 1 KO) had an experienced rival in the Uruguayan Soledad Macedo (17-19-2, 4 KO), but the now established boxer in Canada left the arena in the winner's boots with a TKO triumph at 0:26 of the third round.
As a curtain raiser, local boxer Dylan Taylor (1-0, 1 KO) made a successful professional debut against Argentinian Fernando Sebastian Bravo (4-2-1, 2 KO), whom he defeated by TKO at 2:46 from the start.
