Alexandre Gaumont gave his supportive fans every reason to believe he is a legitimate middleweight prospect Friday night.
The 27-year-old French-Canadian withstood the toughest test of his two-year pro career and defeated previously unbeaten Mexican Ulices Tovar by unanimous decision in their eight-rounder at Lac Leamy Casino in Gamount’s hometown of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Judges Marie Josee Guerin, Pasquale Procopio and Benoit Roussel all scored their fight 79-73 for Gaumont, who improved to 9-0 (6 KOs).
The taller, aggressive Tovar (8-1, 5 KOs) had his fair share of success, mostly in the first five rounds, before Gamount grew comfortable and took control of the action. ESPN+ streamed Gaumont’s win as part of the Christian Mbilli-Demond Nicholson undercard.
Tovar clearly needed a knockout entering the eighth and final round, but he couldn’t hurt Gamount in those final three minutes. Gamount’s left-right-left combination stung Tovar just before the halfway point of the eighth round.
Gaumont’s right hand made Tovar retreat with about 30 seconds on the clock in the seventh round. A counter left hook by Gaumont moved Tovar backward earlier in the seventh round.
Gaumont connected with several jabs and a right hand that backed up Tovar with just over one minute to go in the seventh round.
Tovar turned around Gaumont’s head with just over 20 seconds remaining in the sixth round. Gaumont landed a left hook and three right hands during a sequence with just over 1:20 to go in the sixth round.
A left hook by Gaumont made Tovar take a step backward a couple seconds prior to the end of the fifth round. Gaumont’s right uppercut backed up Tovar with 1:25 remaining in the fifth round.
Tovar snuck in a right hand a few seconds before the fourth round concluded, but Gaumont landed jabs, left hooks and right hands in what was a successful fourth round for him.
Gaumont’s right hand landed to the side of Tovar’s head a little less than 50 seconds into the fourth round.
Tover rocked Gaumont with a right hand just before the bell sounded to end the third round. Tovar’s right landed flush with about 35 seconds on the clock in the third round.
A left uppercut by Gaumont connected with a little more than 1:10 to go in the third round. Gaumont caught Tovar with a left hook that landed barely 20 seconds into the third round.
Tovar drilled Gaumont with a right hand that snapped back his head toward the end of the second round.
Tovar landed a left hand that referee Steve St. Germain declared was low with 2:01 remaining in the second round. That caused a brief break in the action so that Gaumont could recover.
A left uppercut by Gaumont backed up Tovar with just over 30 seconds to go in the first round. Gaumont’s left hook caught Tovar flush a few seconds after the midway mark of the opening round.
Tovar snuck a right hand around Gaumont’s guard with just under 1:40 on the clock in the opening round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.