The gala that Groupe Yvon Michel will present at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal on November 14 will be the last of its “transition period”.
This is what Yvon Michel, president of GYM, explained on Tuesday at a press briefing for this gala, the two co-stars of which will be Kim Clavel and Marie-Pier Houle.
“I think that in 2025, we will really relaunch [notre groupe]. We want to bring Kim back to a world championship fight at Place Bell in March. We want to get her back in the ring in January. So she’s going to finish our year and leave next year. We want to program events at Place Bell as much as here at the Casino. We have elaborate plans. We have other boxers that we count on and who will become very popular. »
In recent months, GYM announced that it had hired Alexis Barrière and Derek Pomerleau. However, Yan Pellerin, president of New Era, then claimed to hold the rights to these two boxers. Pomerleau also boxed on New Era’s September 21 card.
“In the case of Barrière, what [Yan Pellerin] said, is that he had a first right of refusal for the first 12 months after the end of his contract with him. This will end in March. »
“For Derek, it’s true that it’s more complicated than I thought. I’ll let Derek sort this out. We have interest, but we don’t want to interfere. When things are settled and he is available, we will work with him. »
Major player
The founder of GYM assures that everything is in place for his group to remain a major player in professional boxing, which some fans and observers have doubted in recent years. Michel never doubted it. Assuring to see what other promoters in the province are currently doing, the veteran promoter assured that GYM is still relevant, but that in order to remain so, you “have to be there”.
On this point, while he usually announces his program in the fall until the following summer, Michel is doing things differently this time and has invited everyone in January 2025.
“We will be able to tell you about all the programming for 2025 at that time. »
Michel is also delighted with the successes experienced by Camille Estephan with Eye of the Tiger management, and to a lesser extent, Pellerin with New Era and Douggy Bernèche with Canada Fighting. According to Michel, having four promotional groups only proves that Quebec professional boxing is healthy.
“I am very happy to see all the activity in the professional boxing industry. I’m not at all jealous of Camille Estephan. I really admire what he does. Really. We were already in a quasi-monopoly situation like that with Interbox and we had a lot of pressure. There were a lot of people trying to find a place, but there were four promoters who organized events this year. »
“There are a lot of boxers who have a chance of having an interesting professional career. This is what allows [aux nouvelles recrues de GYM Victor Tremblay et Loïck Lahaie] to foresee with great optimism an interesting career. The industry is healthy. What we’re missing is a big star. We don’t have Jean Pascal, Lucian Bute, Stéphane Ouellet and company. But I think it’s coming. A sport is only as popular as its main star. We are in the right direction. (…) There are potentially some in other organizations. At home, I think of Alexis Barrière. Jean Pascal continues to do his part. »
Relaunch for Clavel
This last “transitional” gala on November 14 is also intended to be a relaunch for Clavel (19-2, 3 KOs), who lost his world championship almost to the day a year ago.
Although she has scored two victories since then, the 34-year-old boxer claims to be in a better state of mind this fall than during these two previous outings and feels ready to attack another world title in 2025.
“I found my joy in boxing and everything that surrounds it. After my defeat against [Evelin] Bermudez, I had lost this pleasure. I was bitter for a little while. I was smiling, but it was for the cameras, Clavel said. There, I swear to you that I’m really smiling! »
“I allow myself to have a lot of fun outside of my sport. What happened is backwards. I have tunnel vision at the moment. All my attention is on another world championship fight. »
Clavel will fight this next fight possibly at 107 pounds, in order to keep all doors open at 105 or 108 pounds. Clavel is ranked first contender at 108 pounds in the WBC and IBF and No. 2 in the WBO.
As for Houle (10-1-2, 3 KOs), she also hopes to find her way back to victory, after a draw in her last outing, in June, against Karla Ramos Zamora having left her with a taste bitter in the mouth. Like Clavel, this duel will be fought between two weight divisions, at 145 pounds, in order to keep options both in the super-lightweight (140 pounds), where she is classified, and the mid-middleweight (147), where she appears in the second level of the WBA and the WBO, in the seventh in the IBF, and in the 14th in the WBC.
“The day after the fight is the fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano for all the titles at 140 pounds. This will be a make or break fight to see what happens at this weight. I dare to hope that in 2025, I will get another chance in the world championship. (…) It’s my ultimate goal to win a title, at 140 or 147. We’ll see what happens,” Houle said.
GYM will reveal the opponents of Clavel and Houle next week, like all those of the boxers who will compete in the undercard. Ayoub Maanni, Victor Tremblay, Loïck Lahaie and Ukrainian refugee Kirill Bazhenov will complete this seven-fight card.
Bazhenov, who already masters the basics of French, almost missed this press conference. Having recently arrived in the country, the 19-year-old young man has not yet received his Canadian identity papers and only has the digital versions.
These do not include a photo and photo identification is required to enter the Montreal Casino. It also required the intervention of GYM’s communications manager, Claire Couturier, and two senior managers from the Casino so that Bazhenov could come and speak with the media on site.
