By press release

MONTRÉAL – (July 6, 2023) — In his Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) contract debut, former world kickboxing champion, Jonathan Giovanni Dibella (2-0, 1 KOs) will face veteran Mexican bantamweight Lamberto Macias (16-8-1, 12KOs) in the eight-round main event on Thursday, September 7, at Montreal Casino.

Di Bella, 26, has had a flawless career in combat sports, whether in amateur boxing (6-0), pro kickboxing (11-0) or pro boxing. This will mark Di Bella’s third pro boxing fight, knocking out Jesus Velazquez (3-3, 2 KOs) in his last outing in July 2022, at Montreal Casino.

Macias lost his last fight by way of a 10-round decision against Carlos Cuadras (40-5-1, 27 KOs), the former World Boxing Council (WBA) world champion who is currently ranked No. 5 in the world by the WBC.

In the co-featured event, Canadian light heavyweight Terry Osias (12-0, 6 KOs), who only needed two rounds in both of her last two fights, stopping Swedish Niclas Elfstedt (11-2-1, 6 KOs) and Francy Ntetu (17-5, 4 KOs), will meet Abraham Hernandez Meja (9-5-2, 4 KOs) in an eight-round bout. Osias will be in his 12th fight at Montreal Casino.

Toronto’s Steven Rolls (22-2, 12 KOs), promoter Lou DiBella’s protege, will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) North American middleweight title against Sladan Janjanin (36-15, 25 KOs) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a 10-rounder.

The elite card will also showcase world welterweight contender Marie-Pier Houle (8-1-1, 2KO), ranked No. 2 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO), who will be in her first fight since her superb performance against world champion Sandy Ryan last April in Cardiff, Wales. Houle is matched against solid super lightweight Cindy Reyes Espinoza (4-1) in an eight-round clash. Espinoza and Houle have one common opponent, Marisol Moreno, who lost twice to Espinoza, and once to Houle in a very tough fight this past January.

Multi-talented Caroline Veyre (4-0) will participate in her fifth fight in less than a year. She was very impressive in her last two fights, defeating Anaelle Angerville (5-2-1), of France, and Emma Gongora (6-3)..Veyre fights a quality opponent, Karina Travieso “The Relentless” Chavez (5-1), in an eight-round bout.

Popular Montreal light heavyweight Abed Almoty El Safadi (4-0, 1KO) will take on Dylan Rushton (3-9-2, 4 KOs) in a four-rounder, while light heavyweight Mohamed Zawadi (6-1, 5 KOs), who is promoted by Lee Baxter, squares off against Edison Demaj (10-2, 5 KOs), of Germany, in a six-round confrontation.

DiBella began training very early at the age of two under the guidance of his father. Angelo Di Bella – two-time world kickboxing champion – in the family gym he founded. Jonathan’s first kickboxing fight was at age 10, his first professional fight the following year. He fought all over North America including in the iconic Madison Square Garden. Everyone in Quebec gyms knows Di Bella, as well as throughout the United States, where he served as a training partner for many boxers including several world champions. He received other offers from promoters in boxing, but he chose GYM.

Tickets for the Sept. 7 event are on sale now at ticketmaster.ca or directly from GYM at info@groupeyvonmichel.ca.

ABOUT YVON MICHEL GROUP (GYM): Groupe Yvon Michel is a professional boxing promotion organization, founded in 2004 by Yvon Michel, Alexandra Croft and Bernard Barré, who are still active in the company, the most prolific in the history of professional boxing in Canada. Since its foundation GYM has promoted 167 events in Quebec, all broadcast in Quebec on RDS, TVA Sports or Radio-Canada, and participated in 37 international events outside Quebec. Eight different GYM boxers have become world champions: Joachim Alcine, Jean Pascal, Adonis Stevenson, Artur Beterbiev, Eleider Alvarez, Marie-Eve Dicaire (twice), Oscar Rivas and Kim Clavel. Nineteen GYM boxers have fought in 56 world championship fights, maintaining an excellent record of 30 wins, 24 losses and 2 draws. During this period, the Major American television networks were more active than ever during this period in terms of broadcasting GYM’s most important events in Quebec.

Source : Groupe Yvon Michel – GYM