French-Canadian welterweight contender Antonin Decarie (30-2, 9 KOs) remained on track for another world title shot as he overcame a serious cut to defeat former Mexican champion Pablo Munguia (20-4, 11 KOs) in last night’s main event of the seventh installment of the popular Fight Night Series at Lac Leamy Casino in Gatineau, Ontario, Canada.
WBC #8 and IBF #13 rated Decarie (29-2, 9 KOs) suffered a cut eye at the end of the fifth round from an unintentional head-butt by southpaw Munguia. Despite being adversely effected by the flow of blood into his eye, Decarie emerged with a 10-round decision (98-92, 97-93, 96-94) over a game Munguia.
“Antonin fought a tough, awkward, physically strong opponent who kept coming forward,” Estephan commented. “After his loss to (Luis Carlos) Abregu there were some things missing, so we wanted Antonin to be exposed to a fighter like Munguia. This was a perfect fight for him and he passed the test for his third win in a row. He had to deal with a cut, too. He should be moving up in the ratings and is on the right path towards a world title fight.”
In the co-feature, southpaw Roody Pierre-Paul (9-1, 5 KOs) won a dominant 10-round decision (97-91, 97-91, 96-92) over Baha Laham (12-2-2, 5 KOs) for vacant WBC Continental Americas super featherweight title.
Haitian super middleweight prospect Schiller Hyppolite (9-1, 5 KOs) stopped Bahamian invader Jermain “Choo Choo” Mackey (18-8, 14 KOs), who was unable to continue after six rounds in a scheduled 10-round bout;
The professional debut of highly-touted Canadian amateur star, 18-year-old Steven Butler (1-0, 1 KO), was an overwhelming success as he registered a first-round technical knockout of Jean-Francois Plourde (2-0, 1 KO).
Butler, who had a 48-6 amateur record, was the youngest Canadian National Champion. He was a four-time winner in the Bronze Glove Tournament, as well as gold-medalist at the Silver Gloves, Adidas and Golden Gloves tournaments.
“Steven Butler is a blue-chip prospect,” Estephan added. “He has power and is a mean and vicious fighter. He has it all and is going to be a star.”
Also fighting on the undercard, super middleweight Francois “The Tank” Miville (7-1, 3 KOs) scored a first-round technical knockout victory against previously unbeaten Pascal Villeneuve (3-1, 2 KOs), super middleweight Mitch Louis-Charles (3-1-2, 2 KOs) and Guillaume Tremblay-Coude (2-0-1, 1 KO) fought to a four-round draw, cruiserweight Samer Baraket (3-0, 2 KOs) remained unbeaten by way of a first-round stoppage of Matt Hein (0-3), and heavyweight Steven Harvey (5-1, 2 KOs) took a close four-round decision (38-37 X 3) from Zack Bunce (2-0, 1 KO).
“We’re very pleased with the feedback and numbers we’ve already received from people in Canada who enjoyed watching the fights, especially those from Quebec because there so many familiar fighters in action,” EOTTM president Camille Estephan said.
“We’ve also heard from people in America who watched on pay-per-view and those from all over the world who watched on Punching Grace. They said the fights were well matched and very entertaining. One of our own guys lost (Baha Laham) in what is an early candidate for Fight of the Year in Canada. It’s good for boxing.”
COMPLETE RESULTS
(winners listed first for each fight)
HEAVYWEIGHTS:
Steve Harvey (5-1, 2 KOs), Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
WDEC4 (38-37, 38-37, 38-37)
Zachary Bunce (2-1, 1 KO), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
CRUISERWEIGHTS:
Samir Barakat (3-0, 3 KOs), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
WTKO1 (1:04)
Matt Heim (0-3), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS:
Francois Miville (7-1, 3 KOs), Longueuil, Quebec, Canada
WTKO1 (2:24)
Pascal Villeneuve (3-1, 2 KOs), Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Schiller Hyppolite (9-1, 6 KOs), Montreal, Quebec, Canada by way of Haiti.
WTKO6 (3:00)
Jermain Mackey (18-8, 14 KOs), Nassau, Bahamas
Mitch Louis-Charles (3-1-2, 2 KOs), Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada
D4 (39-37, 39-37, 38-38)
Guillaume Tremblay-Cause (2-0-1, 1 KO), Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada
LIGHT MIDDLEWEIGHTS:
Steven Butler (1-0, 1 KO), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
WTKO1 (2:24)
Jean-Francois Plourde (1-1, 1 KO), Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada
WELTERWEIGHTS:
Antonin Decarie (30-2, 9 KOs), Laval, Quebec, Canada
WDEC10 (98-92, 97-93, 96-94)
Pablo Munguai (19-5, 11 KOs), Mexico City, Distro Federal, Mexico
SUPER FEATHEWEIGHTS:
Roody Pierre-Paul (9-1, 5 KOs), Laval, Quebec, Canada
WDEC10 (97-91, 97-91, 96-92)
Baha Laham (12-2-2, 5 KOs), Montreal, Quebec, Canada by way of Lebanon
(Pierre-Paul won the vacant WBC Continental Americas title)
