MONTREAL – There’s only room for one elite super middleweight on Quebec’s south shore, and Wilkens Mathieu has solidified that position.

The 20-year-old Mathieu defeated his most experienced opponent to date, outpointing his tough Brossard, Quebec, neighbor Shakeel Phinn at Casino de Montreal on Thursday in his first ever 10-round fight. The scores were 98-91 on two cards and 99-90 on the third, all for Mathieu, 15-0 (10 KOs), who likely gained more experience in one night than he had in his previous two-plus years as a pro combined.

The fight was one that Mathieu says he always knew would happen, as there are very few notable 168lbs boxers in Canada – and even fewer in Quebec, where both men are from. Phinn had once been scheduled to fight Mathieu’s older brother Lexson Mathieu, and when Lexson retired, the assignment fell to the younger Mathieu to face this opponent as a step-up.

After a feel-out first round, Mathieu began to find his counterpunching rhythm in the second, landing pull-counter right hands and flashy left hooks. Phinn had his moments in the round, pushing Mathieu to the ropes to land heavy shots with his uppercut when Mathieu squared up. Phinn continued to press in the third, but his forward momentum was halted in the third as an uppercut-left hook combination wobbled Phinn, and a follow-up right hand sent him to the floor. Phinn beat the count but was stunned again by a flurry at the bell. Mathieu showed he had a few more tricks up his sleeve in the fourth, switching to southpaw and landing an overhand left followed by a right-hand power jab.

Phinn’s pressure was replaced by total respect in the fifth, as Phinn began to give Mathieu space after being hurt several times. That approach didn’t pay off, as it gave Mathieu the distance he needed to land a counter left hook with full extension that stunned Phinn once more. Phinn returned to getting close in the sixth, but he was met by counter uppercuts as he plodded forward without much speed or head movement.

Mathieu opened up once more in the seventh, landing several damaging uppercuts with his left from the southpaw stance, looking to finish the bout there. Phinn weathered the storm and began to press Mathieu, whose mouth was open due to shooting his load earlier in the round, landing a right hand-left jab combo to push Mathieu to the ropes.

Phinn, who has had far more experience in the later rounds, showed he still had something left in his arsenal when, in the eighth, he rocked Mathieu with a pair of overhand rights when he found Mathieu out of position in the southpaw stance. Mathieu was able to recover and closed the round the stronger of the two, returning to his counterpunching rhythm on the outside.

Phinn found more opportunities to land his right in the ninth, though with less dramatic effect, as Mathieu remained in front of his opponent more in a high-guard stance. Mathieu’s superior speed allowed him to land the more eye-catching shots, however. With nothing to lose heading into the final round, Phinn came out firing big shots with both hands, crowding the taller Mathieu, who landed his own big shots later in the round, cracking his rival with hooks and at the bell.

The two embraced at the final bell, exchanging words in a sign of respect between fighters who have always been on a collision course. 

The fight was the co-main event to the unified junior middleweight title fight between Mary Spencer and Mikaela Mayer, which headlined a card promoted by Eye of the Tiger Management and Top Rank.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.