by Hans Olson
Groupe Yvon Michel recently announced the first card of the forthcoming continuation of it’s “Fast and Furious” series. Laval native Antonin Decarie (25-1) will take on Mexican legend Jose Luis Castillo (62-11-1) on October 20 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Decarie, 28, returns to the ring eight months after his decision win over Shamone Alvarez which aired on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” back in February. Castillo, a man who once gave Floyd Mayweather a serious run for his money nearly 10 years ago, is a hardened veteran who presents experience and savvy if nothing else. Decarie hopes a win against a name opponent like Castillo will kick-start the next phase of his career.
“I am convinced that for Antonin, it’ll be a big, big year,” said GYM’s VP of operations Bernard Barre at a recent news conference from the NRJ studio in Montreal.
In the evening’s co-feature, Jr. Welterweight Dierry Jean (19-0) squares off against Francisco Lorenzo (37-10). Originally from Haiti, the relentless volume punching Jean could be a fighter to look out for.
Also set to see action on the card will be Manolis Plaitis, Eleider “Storm” Alvarez, Oscar “Kaboom” Rivas, Ghislain Maduma, Tyler Asseltine, Didier Bence, and Abdou Sow.
Groupe Yvon Michel will look to put on close to ten boxing cards in the region over the next several months.
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Last Saturday on the undercard to Mayweather/Ortiz, Quebec’s Adonis “Superman” Stevenson turned in a stellar performance, knocking out Flint, Michigan’s Dion Savage in the first round. With ferocious body shots and a hyper punch out put, Stevenson simply took care of business, referee Tony Weeks stopping the bout at 1:57. As I reported in my pre-fight story to Mayweather/Ortiz, Stevenson promised to “look very quick, very fast,” and assured a knockout. He’s a man of his word.
Next up for Superman?
Another shot on a big-time pay-per-view undercard. He’ll face an opponent to be determined on October 15 in Los Angeles, fighting on the undercard of Hopkins/Dawson.
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Hot prospect Kevin Lavallee (6-0-1) will be back in action following his terrific showing a few weeks back. He’ll fight Nestor Silva Diaz (4-2-4) on the undercard to Ali Nestor Charles vs. Dario Armando Matorras, which will take place on Saturday, October 1 at the Pierre-Charbonneau Centre in Montreal. Also on the card will be Tony Luis (12-0) vs. Cristian Faccio (21-7), and Roody Pierre-Paul (3-0) vs. Gustavo Horacio Diaz (2-19-3).
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We’re only six weeks away from Lucian Bute vs. Glen Johnson. With an outstanding undercard that already features Steve Molitor vs. Sebastien Gauthier and Pier Olivier Cote vs Jorge Luis Teron; fast rising prospect Kevin Bizier has been added to the card, facing an opponent to be determined. In the coming weeks, Boxing Insider will have comprehensive coverage to Bute/Johnson. Stay tuned.
Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @hansolson
