Montreal – March 24, 2018
Jordan Balmir defeats Francesco Cotroni at the Tohu in Montreal.
Ten bouts of locally flavoured pugilism took place in front of a capacity crowd sat in the round bowl of the Tohu theatre this Saturday past, and the men in the squared circle put on quite a spectacle.
The canvas sat eagerly awaiting the modern day gladiators who were set to step out and drain each other of blood, spit and sweat in the oldest and most noble sport known to mankind.
The main contest of the evening paired undefeated Jordan Balmir (8-0) against journeyman Francesco Cotroni (12-9-1) in what would go down as a thrilling eight round battle. Balmir, the more youthful of the two combatants by an eight year gap, showed early on why he has yet to be humbled by defeat. Under the glowing florescent lights of the Tohu, Balmir began to pick apart the slowing Cotroni who has been on a bit of a slide in recent times – earning just three victories in his ten previous fights.
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As the rounds went on, Balmir began to find more and more juicy openings through which to slip punches. Cotroni, however, has heart and experience on his side and wasn’t about to make things easy for his opponent. He himself finding Balmir’s head on several occasions.
With each round, the wear became more and more apparent on the face of the gallant Cotroni. Balmir’s punches were leaving their marks. Several times, a barrage of punches seemed like they would put an end to the contest, but still Cotroni resisted. Fighting to the final bell, the Mascouche native looking ragged and beaten, and the judges unanimously agreed. Balmir had edged out his ninth victory and remains unbeaten.
The packed house were treated to a solid card and a fantastic set of contests on this night. No filler here. The opening contest was a barn burner of an affair that stragglers and late comers will rue having missed out on. Young John Dangako showed little if any nervousness entering the ring for his debut fight – and his performance was impressive. Easily one of the most entertaining contests on a night replete with solid boxing.
He and his opponent, Patrick Lafleur (1-1-1) had come ready to slug it out and that is exactly what they did for four exhausting rounds. Dangako edged out Lafleur by unanimous decision.
Mo Soumaoro (4-0) laid heavy hands on veteran Javier Pena (11-10-1) while Golden Garcia (10-0-1) dropped Adalberto Borquez (29-17-1) and walk off with a TKO win. Roody Pierre-Paul (16-3-1) and Jesus Laguna (22-11-2) fought to a draw. Jean Michel Bolivar (3-0) lost to Jan Michael Poulin (2-1-2). Samuel Vasquez (1-3) was flattened by Kevin Menoche (1-0).
Tommy Houle (1-0) was involved in a tightly hugged out affair with Marco Parente (1-2-1), with Houle getting the judges nod. Bruno Bredecian (10-0) remained undefeated with a win over Eliud Melendez Rocha (14-9-2) and Adam Ayoubi appeared to be having far too much fun while earning a draw against Alex Ebanks (1-3) in his debut bout.
