by Richard Cloutier
The long-awaited grudge match which took place on Friday night on the "Fast and Furious" card at the Bell Centre in Montreal, was something that local boxing fans were craving for several years and Renan St-Juste did not disappoint. St-Juste appeared in great shape and quickly established himself in the ring.
In the opening seconds of the confrontation, the lefty slugger showed his colors by placing a solid left to the face of local rival Sebastien Demers. Therefore, the latter declined defensively, content to keep moving around the ring while leaving the initiative to his opponent. Finally, Demers was never able to get anything going and St-Juste simply went for the kill. A series of three quick left hands would ultimately result in Demers being stopped at 0:54 of the second round.
St-Juste (22-2-1) captured the NABO super middleweight title with the win and manages to forget his disappointing defeat that was suffered by majority decision at the hands of Marcus Upshaw last May 28. He adds the name of Sebastien Demers to his tally of victories recorded before the final bell. Demers joins Walid Smichet TKO1, Mohammad Said TKO5, and Dionisio Miranda TKO9.
In getting himself reinstating in the top-15 world rankings under the WBO, St. Juste, age 38, has a legitimate chance to reach his dream of a world title. Moreover, during the official weigh-in, the supervisor for the WBO (NABO) Ruby Paz, had failed to mention to the media that the winner would likely fight for the WBO world title in 12 months.
