The first unification bout of 2023 is officially set for this weekend.
Kim Clavel and Jessica Nery Plata easily made weight for their WBC/WBA junior flyweight title clash, which headlines an ESPN+ stream from Place Bell in Laval, Canada (Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET). Montreal’s Clavel checked in at a fight ready 107.8 pounds, while Mexico City’s Plata was a surprisingly light 104.2 pounds, well below even the strawweight limit.
Both boxers attempt the first defense of their respective titles, with the bout taking place six weeks after its originally scheduled December 1 date. The fight was postponed when Clavel (16-0, 3KOs) came down with a 102-degree fever just days before their anticipated clash.
The original date would have marked a relatively quick turnaround for the locally celebrated Clavel, a 2020 ESPY winner for courage exhibited on the frontline as a nurse during the height of Covid who won her first major title earlier this summer. Clavel dethroned long-reigning WBC titlist Yesenia Gomez in a lopsided unanimous decision win on July 31 at Montreal Casino, after which she and her team immediately explored a title unification bout for her next contest.
A willing participant was found in Plata (28-2, 3KOs), who fights away from Mexico for her second straight title fight.
The 28-year-old Plata came up big in a ten-round split decision win over Argentina’s Yesica Bopp to claim the WBA junior flyweight title on a March 11 all-female card in Panama City, Panama.
The fight was the first outside of Mexico for Nery, who embraced the role of road warrior while looking to extend her current seven-fight win streak.
Conversely, Clavel has fought all but twice in her home country. The bulk of her bouts have taken place in her Montreal hometown, though Friday’s unification bout is staged in the same venue where Clavel celebrated her December 2017 pro debut.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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