QUEBEC | Saturday's gala will be the 10th to be held at the Videotron Center and, with 10,000 spectators, will certainly be the largest in the Quebec venue's history.
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It is actually the largest boxing gala held in Quebec in the last decade.
“The last 13 years,” Camille Estephan corrects us. In my opinion it is the biggest since the fight between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins, which also took place here.
“But for me, this gala is even bigger because of the depth of the card.”
A unification final between Artur Beterbiev and Callum Smith, an exciting fight between Christian Mbili and Rohan Murdock and another duel for the world title between Jason Moloney and Saul Sanchez is very tempting.
rage
Eye of the Tiger Management founder Camille Estephan was accompanied during the press briefing by Martin Tremblay, chief operating officer of the Sports and Entertainment Group of Quebecor (Gstev).
The two men placed great emphasis on the specifics of the Quebec boxing market.
“The market has delivered the goods,” emphasizes Estephan. The audience will be there, we have proven that Quebec City is a real boxing market. There are many cities in the world that are not able to sell 5,000 tickets, we will be at 10,000 on Saturday evening.
“Forget New York and Vegas, which are big markets, what city in North America can accommodate 10,000 people [dans un aréna pour un combat de boxe]?” adds Martin Tremblay.
From the beginning
What we often observe at boxing galas is the absence of spectators at the first fights. Estephan also has an eloquent anecdote on this topic.
“We have real fans who don’t just come to the final. I had a semifinal fight in Vegas [David] Lemieux before a Canelo fight [Alvarez] And I swear to you, not 10% of the T-Mobile Arena was full during the fight, but the last fight there were 20,000 people.
According to the two men, it is unlikely that this will happen on Saturday evening. And that, according to Martin Tremblay, is exactly what allows us to present such a strong menu.
“Camille managed to bring a gala to Quebec that could have been presented anywhere in the world and we as a market are showing that we are capable of doing that. This is a great satisfaction for me.”
Good choice
It is worth remembering that this boxing evening was originally scheduled for last August, but Artur Beterbiev had to cancel due to an emergency dental operation just ten days before the gala.
“We could have made the gala with another final, but we made the right decision,” estimates Estephan. Had to negotiate with Callum [Smith] and we had to talk to the three associations [IBF, WBC et WBO] and that they agree to a postponement.”
There were only a few requests for refunds and, above all, most of the tickets had already been sold.
“The vast majority of people bought their tickets in May and June and waited until January because they wanted to see this gala,” explains Martin Tremblay.
The following
The boxing world will be watching what happens Saturday night in Quebec. The show should live up to expectations.
“Top Rank, ESPN and the world will see this. The fight will be shown on RMC in France, it was bought in Japan and Sky Sports is also presenting it,” mentions Estephan.
“It's one thing to be a boxing promoter, but to bring the major American television networks and the biggest decision makers like Matchroom and Top Rank to Quebec, you have to be credible,” adds Tremblay.
We better understand why the duo is talking about hosting two events a year at the Videotron Center. What can we expect as the second big gala in the Old Capital in 2024?
“I always wonder who can make it to the final of a gala. We want to create a happening,” says Estephan.
Between the lines we understand that everything is linked to a possible victory for Christian Mbili over Rohan Murdock. We could then have him headlining a gala where he could perhaps compete for a world title.