Kim Clavel (17-1, 3 KOs) bounced back after suffering her first career defeat, with a ten round unanimous decision over Mexico’s Naomi Reyes (9-3, 5 KOs) at Place Bell in Laval.
Clavel, with scores of 96-94, 98-92 and 98-92, walked away with the WBC International and WBO Intercontinental titles.
Back in July of 2022, Clavel defeated Yesenia Gomez to become the WBC junior flyweight world champion.
However, she lost her title, and her undefeated record, back in January – when she was outboxed over ten by WBA champion Yesica Nery Plata in their unification clash.
Against Reyes, Clavel controlled the majority of the contest, but it wasn’t easy and she was made to work very hard. Clavel suffered a cut above her left eye in the eight from a clash of heads and injured her nose from an uppercut in the tenth, but still managed to overcome her tough opponent.
“It was quite a fight. Probably the hardest hitting girl I’ve ever fought against. Coming back from a loss is not easy. You have to talk to yourself in your head. It takes courage and work. You have to be positive in your head all the time,” Clavel told Radio Canada.
“We knew it wouldn’t be an easy fight. With women, it doesn’t lie. She has five knockouts to her record in nine fights. I found a way to win. I was focused in the corner when [my trainer] was talking to me. I saw what was happening. I know that I took some punches. But we do boxing and at some point we can’t dodge them all. I would have liked to stop everything like Patrick Roy, but tonight I missed a couple.”
Clavel’s promoter, Yvan Michel of GYM, is already trying to get her another world title fight.
Also on the card, Sébastien Bouchard (20-2-1, 9 KOs) broke down and stopped Fernando Marquez (11-2, 9 KOs) before the seventh round.
After a year of absence, Patrice Volny (17-1, 11 KOs) did not drag things out by taking down Abraham Juarez Ramirez (21-11-1, 10 KOs) in three rounds.