QUEBEC CITY — Thomas Chabot may have been the second bout of the night, but for his fans who made the 90-minute trip from Thetford Mines, he was the feature attraction.
The 24-year-old junior lightweight prospect gave his supporters something to cheer about, defeating Argentina’s Matias Ezequiel Guenemil by a unanimous decision on Saturday, August 17 at Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Canada. Scores for the eight round bout, which was part of the Christian Mbilli-Sergiy Derevyanchenko card, were 80-72 on two cards, and 79-73 on the third, boosting Chabot’s record to 11-0 (8 KOs).
Chabot, a southpaw, brought the pressure from round one, though Guenemil brought plenty of straight right hands, which often met Chabot as he often walked in without a meaningful jab. It became clear as the fight went on that Guenemil was banking on a right hand ending the fight, while Chabot was the one throwing combinations and making the fight.
Chabot showed better upper body movement and counterpunching than he had in previous fights, with one such counterpunch, a left hand to the body off a Guenemil right, seemed to produce a knockdown as Guenemil went to a knee. The referee blew call, as the crowd booed vociferously after the replay showed the punch was a clean blow.
Chabot managed to stun Guenemil upstairs as well, as a right hook buzzed him momentarily. A cut opened up on Chabot’s forehead, the product of a head clash, though the abrasion was a non-factor in the bout.
Chabot hurt Guenemil again in the fifth with a right hook, and controlled the remainder of the bout as Chabot’s body attack began to slow down Guenemil’s attack.
The loss drops the 30-year-old Guenemil to 10-4-1 (5 KOs) as a pro in what was his first fight in 14 months. Guenemil had made one previous trip to Canada, losing a six-round decision to Chabot’s stablemate Avery Martin Duval in September of 2022.
New York middleweight prospect Jahi Tucker (12-1-1, 5 KOs) scored a shutout win on the undercard, outpointing Argentina’s Santiago Fernandez (8-2-1, 4 KOs) by unanimous scores of 80-72 on all three cards.
The fight was becoming as routine as poutine, to the point that Tucker began having a back and forth conversation with what appeared to be a team member on the other side of the ring.
“You can finish him if you want to,” said the unidentified person seated inside the ringside corral.
“I know.”
“Then do it.”
Tucker nearly made good on that call in the final 30 seconds of the bout, rocking Fernandez with a counter right hand that nearly put Fernandez down. Tucker never pressed the advantage, boxing his way to the final bell.
Tucker, 21, has now won two straight since his career was derailed momentarily after he lost a majority decision to Nicklaus Flaz last July, followed by a draw with unbeaten Argentinian Francisco Veron in December.
In the opening bout of the night, Dzmitry Asanau (8-0, 3 KOs), a Belarusian lightweight now based in Los Angeles, remained unbeaten with an eight round shutout of Alexis Gabriel Camejo (8-4-2, 1 KO). Scores were 80-72 across the board.
