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Cloutier’s Canada Corner
Lafrenière & Cotroni Confident To Win Rematch
By Daniel Cloutier
MONTRÉAL — The Montrealers Francis Lafrenière and Francesco
Cotroni will get his rematch Friday evening at the
Pierre-Charbonneau Centre in Montréal, in the main event of
a boxing show organized by the promoter Yvon Michel, from
the GYM Group. In 2012, in a four rounder, Cotroni beat
Lafrenière by unanimous decision.
“When I fought Cotroni in 2012, I was not prepared for this
challenge,” said Lafrenière Thursday afternoon a the weigh
in held at the Leonardo Da Vinci Centre in Montréal. “When
this fight happened, I got only two weeks of training,
because I got an injury to my right hand. This time, I am in
perfect health and I got a perfect preparation. This time,
you will see the real Francis Lafrenière in action, I am
sure the fight will be intense, but I am positive I gonna
win it, and I gonna win it clearly.”
In the past, Lafrenière was trained by the Montrealers
Howard and Otis Grant at the Monster GYM in Dorval, but now,
his trainer is Stephane Larouche. “Francis got a great
training camp,” said Larouche. “He sparred with fighters of
high caliber, then, he is ready for a war. Cotroni is an
agressive fighter, but no doubt in my mind, Francis is
better than him technically, offensively and defensively.”
Cotroni, obviously, is more than confident to beat
Lafrenière for a second time. “Trust me, I respect my
opponent, but I know I have the weapons to win again,” said
Cotroni. “I gonna win the strategies’ battle. It’s crucial
for me to win it, because I want to progress in the
international ratings and get eventually rival ranked in the
world.”
The winner of this rematch will be proclaimed Canadian
middleweight (160 pounds) champion.
At the weigh in, Lafrenière (19-7-2) posted an official
weight of 159.4 pounds, versus 159.6 for Cotroni (12-11-0).
Before the main event, the heavyweight Hugo Girard, who will
dispute a first pro bout, will face Patrick Côté
(1-0-0).Girard, a fighter of more than 300 pounds of
muscles, won in 2012 a world championship for the strongest
men on the planet.
The boxers involved in the preliminaries bouts will be: the
Montrealer middleweight Jan Michael Poulin (6-1-2), the
heavyweight Adam Dyczca, a fighter from Granby, Québec, who
is making his pro boxing debut, the Montrealer cruiserweight
Tom Vautour (5-2-0), the Montrealer light heavyweight
Wilfred Seyi (6-0-0), the Montrealer super lightweight Abed
El-Safadi (2-0-0), the Montrealer welterweight Hamza Khabbaz
(1-0-0) and the Montrealer super welterweight Kevin Minoche
(3-0-0).
Poulin will fight Danyk Croteau (5-2-0), from Gatineau,
Québec (beside Ottawa), Dyczka will meet the Slovak Michal
Lukacik (2-2-1), Vautour will be opposed to the Montrealer
Alexandre Roberge, who is making his pro boxing debut, Seyi
will face the Mexican Jair Sena (8-3-2), El-Safadi will
fight the Montrealer Dwayne Durel (6-3-0), Khabbaz will meet
the Mexican Roberto Gonzalez Robledo (3-1-0), and finally,
Minoche will be opposed to Roody Rene (1-5-1), from Ottawa,
Ontario.
At the weight in, Girard posted an official weight of 327
pounds, Côté 228, Poulin 159.4, Croteau 163.8, Dyczka 267.2,
Lukacik 256.6, Vautour 199.8, Roberge 200, Seyi 173.2, Sena
173.8, El-Safadi 142.6, Durel 142.4, Khabbaz 145.4, Robledo
145.6, Meloche 161 and finally, Rene 161.4 pounds.
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