The Montrealer won a unanimous decision at the Montreal Casino.
Kim Clavel may not have had a world champion in front of her on Thursday at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal, but she delivered a flawless performance to defeat Mexican Mayela Perez.
Clavel (20-2, 3 KOs) did not lose a round against Perez (20-28-4, 10 KO’s). The mid-fly was favoured by the three judges 100-90.
“It’s nice to have a little easier day at the office every now and then,” Clavel admitted.
The former world champion, at the top level of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 2 in the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO), served a boxing lesson to her opponent.
“I’m happy, I was able to do everything we practised in the gym. Sometimes what we do in the gym is not the same thing under stress during a fight. That’s what I’m most proud of today.”
From the first rounds, Clavel’s combinations hit their target repeatedly. The Quebecer’s left seemed to trouble the Mexican from the beginning to the end of the fight, as did her jab.
Starting in the fifth, Clavel also landed several uppercuts.
“It’s rare that I get out of uppercuts in combat; I’m starting to feel more comfortable in the gym. … It shows that, even after 17 years of boxing, if you want, you can learn new things.”
In the sixth, Perez threw several combinations, but they were all absorbed into Clavel’s guard.
“I would say I’m back 100 per cent from my year 2023. Kim is back!,” she said. “I felt like I did during my victory against (Yesenia) Gomez (in July 2022). I saw everything, I moved my head well, I had good defence. Of course, it wasn’t Gomez in front of me, but it was practical to be able to land my blows, apply my defence, take out all my tools.
“I rediscovered my passion, pleasure. I haven’t had any easy opponents in my career. Today, she was a veteran, who had good defence, who moved her head well. Of course, I was better than her in everything. But she’s a difficult girl, we could see that. It was perfect to go and practice everything we wanted to practice to return against Vale, a Bermudez or a Plata.”
In a super lightweight bout, Marie-Pier Houle (11-1-2, 3 KOs) had to work hard against the Anyssa Benyoub of France (7-5), winning in 10 hard-fought rounds.
Houle won over all three judges, one scoring 99-91 and two 98-92 for the unanimous decision.
True to form, Houle, No. 6 in the IBF at 140 pounds, started the fight strong, hitting Benyoub with several power combinations.
Benyoub tried to come back into this fight in the later rounds. She hit the target solidly on a few occasions, notably cutting Houle on the left brow bone, but Houle’s footwork allowed her to escape.
Houle, who is also ranked second in the WBO, third in the World Boxing Association (WBA), as well as 14th in the WBC at 147 pounds, is now awaiting a call for a world championship fight, perhaps at this weight. She and her promoter Yvon Michel were cryptic during the weigh-in, but news should come from the Houle clan in the coming weeks.
To open the event, Facson Perrine (1-0, 1 KO), a Mauritius light heavyweight based in Yamachiche, made a successful professional debut against Alberta’s Drew Stuve (1-1, 1 KO). The two men delivered the performance of the evening and exchanged blows for blows.
But it was Perrine who made the best shots, starting from the second. He finally sent his opponent to the canvas in the fourth round after a powerful right hook. Referee Erick Philippeaux marked the end of hostilities at exactly 2:16.
Middleweight Loïck Lahaie (1-0), testing for three fights with GYM, passed his first test. In a fairly close fight, Lahaie won his first professional fight by unanimous decision against Ruslan Barma (0-1). The three judges handed out cards of 40-36 in favour of the 22-year-old boxer from Sherbrooke.
Finally, the Ukrainian Montrealer Kirill Bazhenov (1-0, 1 KO) stopped Alex Gagnon (0-2-1) at the end of the second round. Gagnon vomited in the ring after a combination, leading to the immediate stoppage by referee Philippeaux.