With a new partnership with the Sports Network (RDS), Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) is fully ready to look to the future after 2020 to be completely forgotten.
The two entities had already announced their reunion at noon on Friday, after reaching a long-term agreement to introduce, produce and promote boxing events. The agreement also includes proximity to other Bell Media platforms.
“We have important strategic goals for 2021 and after important meetings, we realized that RDS was the perfect broadcast to allow us to implement high-quality events,” GYM President Yvon Michel said in a video conference.
Starting on March 16, RDS will be broadcasting the GYM concerts on TV each month, which will be performed at the Plaza Québec and will feature Oscar Rivas and Silveira Lewis. The two men actually faced each other in June 2012 and Montriller of Colombian descent won by split decision of the judges after an eight-round duel.
In 2020, the gymnasium (GYM) did not perform any concerts due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only a few athletes had a chance to fight in the United States or Mexico. GYM wants to make up for lost time and suggests it will start hiring.
Michel said, “We will co-promote with New Era Fighting & Promotions and Lee Baxter Promotions to be able to deliver the strongest events possible.” We also have partnered offers with [le promoteur américain] Lou Debella.
“Ultimately, we want to give opportunities to a lot of boxers from outside Quebec. We’ll even look at this more closely, because there’s an Olympics this year. How close is he to the national team.” [canadienne]We’ll see this more closely after the games. “
Over the next few months, Michel hopes to organize events in Quebec with the participation of Marie-Yves Decayer in June or July, two to three months after the end of her stay at Kim Clavel. Celebrity big brother And also Mikael Zewski in September in Trois-Rivières.
Championship battle for Rivas?
The March 16 party will see a return to the circuit of Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs), who has not fought since losing by unanimous decision of the judges to Dillian White in July 2019 in London. If all goes according to plan, he will face Bryant Jennings in June at the World Heavyweight Championship (Bridgerweight) From WBC.
The duel against Lewis (8-5, 4 KOs), has been inactive since September 2016, and is scheduled to take place eight rounds.
Michel explained, “This is a request from his opponent.” The goal is really to give Oscar the chance to get back in the ring and find his directions. We also wanted to bring Oscar back to the news, as the media and fans tend to forget the boxer who does not fight. The announcement of his duel allowed him to return to the news. “
“I am very happy with this opportunity that is presented to me after everything that happened in the world over the past year,” Rivas added. I feel good both physically and mentally. I gave 100 percent on my last fight and will continue to work harder because I know 2021 will be better than the past. “
With his coach Mark Ramsay currently preparing for Artur Petrbeef for the March 20 shock, he will join Rivas Jesse Ross Thompson in his corner on March 16.
However, Michel had no specific plan to communicate about Rivas’ citizen Elder Alvarez, who was arrested by Joe Smith Jr. in the ninth round last August.
Michel said, “He is currently in quarantine at home, because he returned from Colombia not long ago.” His manager and coach made a list of benchmarks before he got back in the ring and until I got the green light, I’m not going to make a plan. “
In all, seven fights are expected to be filed on March 16, but Michel has clearly warned that public health restrictions could lead to a few falling out. Athletes will have to go into quarantine 14 days before the match.
Additionally, GYM announced that it has extended its Quebec welterweight contract, Sebastian Bouchard. The latter was riding a ten-match winning streak before getting injured in the shoulder during his fight against Ayaz Hussain in November 2019 at Videotron Center.
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