It was a night of redemption for Canadian fighter Kim Clavel on Thursday at the Montreal Casino as she managed to overcome her Morrocan opponent, Fara El Bousairi and win by majority decision.
The three judges scored it 95-95, 96-94, and 98-92 but it was the first judge score that threw everyone off despite a contest that looked like Clavel was in full control.
“I was very happy with my performance”, Clavel told me after the fight.
“I used my speed and my precision and I was very proud of my fight tonight.” - Canadian boxer, Kim Clavel
Her opponent who is Morrocan by origin but lives in Spain came at her but wasn’t up to the challenge and ended up with a black eye and some serious damage.
“I won the fight so that is the most important thing to me.”
It was the first time in a while we hadn’t seen Clavel take serious damage to her face, which happened in both of the fights that she lost to Evelin Bermudez and Yesica Nery Plata.
She looked focused and in full control but El Bousairi managed to win a few rounds and showed her skill in the ring.
“She was a good opponent”, Clavel answered when I asked what she thought of El Bousairi. “ She’s a warrior and she was heavy and she came to fight and that’s what we wanted.”
Before the fight at the weigh-in, there was a bit of controversy as the Morrocan went over the agreed weight at 111 pounds (Clavel came in at 109) and thus will forfeit 20% of her prize money.
I also asked Clavel to give us her initial reaction when she heard that a judge had scored a tie 95-95.
“ onestly I was surprised”, she responded. “It is what it is and boxing is like that and it’s ok and we are not in the head of the judge and I accept it.”
Supposedly Clavel won’t have to wait long to get back in the ring as the next event is scheduled for May 16th.
Check out our interview with Canadian Olympic boxing coach and coach of Kim Clavel, Danielle Bouchard!
Marie Pier Houle knocks out Portillo
In the co-main event of the evening, another Quebecois, Marie Pier Houle, only needed three rounds to knock out her Argentinian opponent, Marisa Joana Portillo.
“I felt for the first time we wanted to start very strong.”, Houle told me after the fight. “I wasn’t very satisfied with my performance in the first round and it was better in the second and at the end of the third round my coach was super happy.”
Houle didn’t wait a second to pounce on her opponent as she attacked Portillo as soon as the bell rang to start the fight and she didn’t let up.
The third round ended with Houle throwing uppercuts at her opponent to the point that after the bell the fight was stopped almost immediately.
“My uppercut hit her hard as well as my hooks to the body and I wanted her to fall but she didn’t.” - Canadian boxer, Marie-Pier Houle
Despite knocking out Portillo the fight ended with the Argentinian against the ropes refusing to fall due to her weight but she sustained too much damage to continue and looked like she was out cold.
“I was so confident and I was feeling very strong and I was ready for the fight and we did a lot of work in the gym.”
I asked Houle about her plans for her next fight and it looks like she will also be on the card on May 16th at the Montreal Casino.
“I am ready and I want a title fight to have another chance at a belt.”
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