Thomas Chabot, Jahi Tucker points decision win in Quebec City

QUEBEC CITY – Thomas Chabot may have been the second of the night, but for his fans who made the 90-minute drive from Thetford Mines, he was an attraction.

The 24-year-old junior lightweight gave his fans something to cheer about, defeating Argentina's Matias Ezequiel Guenemil via unanimous decision on Saturday, August 17 at the Center Videotron in Quebec City, Canada. The scores of the eight rounds, which were part of the Christian Mbilli-Sergiy Derevyanchenko card, were 80-72 on two cards, and 79-73 on the third, increasing Chabot's record to 11-0 (8 KOs).

Chabot, a southpaw, brought the pressure from the first round, although Guenemil delivered a lot of direct straight hands, which often met with Chabot as he often went in without a sound jab. It became clear as the fight continued that Guenemil was banking on the right hand to end the fight, while Chabot was the one who threw the combinations and made 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 from Guenemil's right, seemed to produce a knockdown as Guenemil went to the knee. The referee made the call, as the crowd cheered after the ball game to show that the punch was clean.

Chabot was able to surprise Guenemil up top as well, as a right hook knocked him down for a while. A cut opened up on Chabot's forehead, a product of the head-on collision, although the abrasion was not a major factor.

Chabot hurt Guenemil again in the fifth with a right hook, and controlled the rest of the fight as Chabot's body attacks began to slow down Guenemil's attacks.

The loss dropped the 30-year-old Guenemil to 10-4-1 (5 KOs) as a professional in his first fight in 14 months. Guenemil has made one previous trip to Canada, losing a six-round decision to Avery Martin Duval at the Chabot stable in September of 2022.

New York middleweight Jahi Tucker (12-1-1, 5 KOs) scored a win on the undercard, outpointing Argentina's Santiago Fernandez (8-2-1, 4 KOs) by a score of 80-72 on all three cards.

The fight had become as routine as poutine, so much so that Tucker began having a back-and-forth conversation with what appeared to be a member of the team on the other side of the ring.

“You can finish him off if you want,” said the unidentified person sitting inside the corral.

“I know.”

“Then do it.”

Tucker almost got the better of that call in the final 30 seconds of the fight, rocking Fernandez with a right hand that almost put Fernandez down. Tucker didn't press the advantage, punching to the final bell.

Tucker, 21, has now won two in a row since his career was briefly interrupted after he suffered a major decision loss to Nicklaus Flaz last July, followed by a draw with unbeaten Argentine Francisco Veron in December.

In the opening fight of the night, Dzmitry Asanau (8-0, 3 KOs), a Belarusian lightweight now based in Los Angeles, remained undefeated by stopping Alexis Gabriel Camejo (8-4-2, 1 KO) in eight rounds. Scores were 80-72 across the board.