By Jake Donovan and Cliff Rold
28-year old Congolese Lightweight Ghislain Maduma (14-0, 9 KO) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, won a unanimous ten-round decision Friday night at the Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada against a game 27-year old Saul Carreon (20-6-1, 13 KO) of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico. Both men came in a half pound below the Lightweight limit of 135 lbs. at 134 1/2.
The referee was Marlon Wright.
After a deliberate first two rounds, Carreon began to increase the drama factor in round three, appearing to stun Maduma late in the round. A flush left hook early in round five again rocked Maduma and he withstood some testy follow up shots. In the closing moments of the round, Maduma opened up and found a bomb of his own but Carreon carried the momentum of the contest.
As the second half of the fight developed, the postures remained as they had been, Maduma looking to box and Carreon trying to force a fight. Working efficiently behind his quicker jab, Maduma was able score needed points in the final two rounds, keeping enough distance, and wrapping up often enough when close, to keep Carreon from landing enough to steal a victory. It worked, the judges awarding Maduma the win at a too-wide 99-91, 97-93, and 96-94.
Maduma gave Carreon credit for his toughness following the contest and stated he felt he hadn't done his best on the night but was happy to have the learning win.
In the Light Heavyweight co-main event, 27-year old 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist James DeGale (15-1, 10 KO), 172 1/4, of London, England, laid a beating on 33-year old former Middleweight title challenger Sebastian Demers (31-6, 11 KO), 171 1/2, of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. DeGale stunned Demers early in the first and never let up. With blood already flowing from the nose of Demers, a crackling right uppercut from DeGale's southpaw stance sent Demers to a knee in the corner. Referee Steve St. Germain waved the bout closed at 1:58 of round two.
The loss was Demers fourth straight and fourth knockout loss overall. DeGale made it five wins in a row since a close loss to fellow top young contender George Groves and promised after the bout to be a world champion by year's end.
Schiller Hyppolite picks up his second straight knockout and win, stopping Martin Avila in the third round of their super middleweight bout. Hyppolite (7-1, 4KO) scored two knockdows, the second coming from a body shot that forced Avila (14-12, 7KO) to take a ten-count. The end came at 2:36 of round three.
Popular local light heavyweight Pascal Villeneuve (2-0, 1KO) was perfect in a four-round preliminary contest with Fourad Nasri (6-7-1, 2KO). Scores were 40-36 on all three cards.
Tony Luis pitched a shutout over Maurycy Gojko in their six-round super lightweight bout. All three judges scored the contest 60-54 in favor of Luis (16-1, 7KO), who was coming off of his first career loss suffered earlier this year.
Junior middleweight Mian Hussain (6-0, 4Kos) won a six round unanimous decision over Alessio Domarin (2-3, 1KO). Scores were 60-54 across the board.
Heavyweight prospect Zach Bunce (1-0, 1KO) made his pro debut and stopped Donald Willis (1-3-1) in the third round. Willis was dropped in the first. Bunce dropped him once again in the third, and Willis did not come out for the fourth round.