Mathieu Germain will try to continue his rise in the various boxing rankings by facing Misael Cabrera Urias, Thursday at the Casino de Montreal. But it is the process, more than the opponent, that matters.
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Initially, it was Eduardo Leonel Rodriguez (10-2-1, 5 K.-O.) that Germain was to face, but his name was replaced by that of Marcos Cardenas (20-7-1, 16 K.-O. .) recently. Finally, on Wednesday, it was rather Urias (12-0-0, 9 K.-O) who showed up for the official weigh-in.
Obviously, a change of opponent a few days before a fight is never ideal. But in the eyes of promoter Yvon Michel, the objective of this fight is to bring Germain back to the fore without the spotlight being on him.
Do not believe, however, that the goal is to spare the Mascouchois; a victory could quickly allow him to take the next step. The idea is to avoid the kind of scenario that occurred against Junior Ulysse, when the WBC Francophone and NABF welterweight titles were at stake. “G-Time” had then suffered the K.-O. in the seventh round.
“With Mathieu, we want to take the necessary time, explained the boss of the Group Yvon Michel (GYM) recently. We have the opportunity to have him on an event where there is not too much pressure for him. So a little under the radar fight, but we have plans for him in the fall.”
“We want to make sure that he will have all the necessary experience and learning so that when he knocks on the big door again, he is able to stay there.”
Not serious
Germain didn't seem overly concerned with the sudden change on Wednesday, after tipping the scales at 142.8 lbs versus 142.1 lbs for his opponent. “This is the world of boxing. It doesn't change much," he said after the weigh-in.
Already, during media training last week, he kept his eyes on his goal without dwelling too much on his opponent.
"I set myself short-term goals," he said. My goal is to get back into the world rankings. Then it will cause surprise; when we are going to receive the call, to go and beat the opponent.”
Healed
This fight against Urias will be Germain's second with GYM. It will nevertheless be his first in full possession of his means.
On March 11, Germain had defeated Erick Inzunza (19-13-0, 14 K.-O.) by K.-O., but he had needed all his spare change. He has indeed suffered from the long COVID, with in particular large losses of energy for a few months.
“It took time. I was not 100%. One hundred percent [certain] that I was not! It took me a while to get over it. I caught it in December and it took me a few months. I made the fight anyway, but I trained with fatigue. Really total energy dips as a result of workouts. There, I totally recovered. It's behind me."
