by GM Ross – It was a big weekend for boxing in Canada, with fight cards taking place on both Friday and Saturday night, with titles on the line in each. On Friday night the Canadian Professional Boxing Council (CPBC) crowned a super middleweight champion in Montreal, Quebec, while the International Boxing Federation (IBF), Canadian Boxing Federation (CBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) all had titles up for grabs in Rama, Ontario.
Beginning in Montreal, Ali Nestor Charles earned a unanimous decision victory over Martin Desjardins to win the vacant CPBC super middleweight title. Desjardins scored a knockdown in the second round, but, according to CPBC president Don Collette, Nestor Charles “made the count easily and fought smart afterward.” Both fighters were cut by the halfway point of the contest, with Nestor Charles earning the close decision. The judges score cards read as follows: Richard DeCarufel, 96-93; Roger Doiron, 97-93; Pasquale Procopio, 95-94. With the win Ali Nestor Charles joins CBF titleholder David Lemieux as co-claimant of the super-middleweight championship of Canada. Hopfully the divide in the title will be bridged in the near future via a unification bout..
On the undercard, Abdou Sow of Longueuil, Quebec, scored a TKO over Jean Charlemagne of Montreal, Quebec, in the third round of a scheduled four round affair. This moves Sow to 3-0-0, with all three victories coming by way of TKO. In heavyweight action Sylvera Louis of Montreal, Quebec, made his debut against rarely victorious veteran, Stephane Tessier of Saint Phillipe, Quebec. Louis won the decision, the judges scoring the bout: Pasquale Procopio, 40-36; Benoit Roussel,40-36; Sylvain Leblanc, 39-37.The loss leaves Tessier winless in his last 24 fights. Last but not least, Lucia Larcinese of Montreal, Quebec, lost via unanimous decision in women’s featherweight action to Jackie Travilino of Plattsburgh, New York.
On Saturday, Steve “The Canadian Kid” Molitor returned to action on Saturday at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, against Takalani Ndlovu, for the vacant IBF super bantamweight title. Molitor made it two in a row over Ndlovu, winning a unanimous decision. All three judges saw the fight differently, but all in favour of Molitor: Don Dwarte, 117-111; Andre Pasquier, 116-112; Kelly Zolnierczyk, 115-113. In other world title action, Lisa Brown of Scarborough, Ontario, claimed the vacant WBA female super bantamweight title by defeating Ana Julaton of Daly City, California. Brown adds the WBA crown to a long list of accomplishments including the International Female Boxing Association and Women’s International Boxing Association super bantamweight titles.
The long anticipated match-up between Grzgorz Kielsa and Neven Pajik for the CBF heavyweight title also came off at Rama, with Pajik thoroughly outpointing the champion Keilsa on every score card. William Boodhoo had the match 100-90, while Alan Davis and Harry Davis scored it 99-91, all in favour of Pajik. Pajik, who is undefeated in twelve professional contests, will be a tough one to dethrone.
In other Rama undercard action, Felix Mercedes of Buffalo, New York, won a six round unanimous decision over Ivan Flores of Culiacan, Mexico, in the welterweight division. Staying with the welterweights, Justin Fountain of Hamilton, Ontario, lost to Fabian Ramirez of Culiacan, Mexico, via first round TKO. Finally, there was an all-Ontario match-up featuring super middleweights Jason Douglas of Kitchener, and Stephan Boyd of Toronto, which the latter won by unanimous decision.