Poulard Stops Sjomkin on Boxing Channel Card

Contender Nicholson Poulard advanced toward a potential world title fight with a victory over Anton Sjomkin on Friday night in Quebec. The light heavyweight's stoppage victory, which came at 1:24 of the third, took place on a card presented on BoxingChannel.TV. Poulard rose to 19-3, with 9 stops, while the loser, from Estonia, went to 13-8-1.

Corey Erdman called the action for TBC, and offered us an assessment of Poulard. “He looked Friday, because he had the kind of opponent he'll look good against, someone who isn't going to push the tempo at all. I liked that he fought on the inside a little. That's not something I've seen him do a lot of in the past. He was banned as an amateur for pushing a referee, so he's had to learn on the job essentially, as a pro. 

“Nicholson doesn't have a good chin, so even though he might be better suited as an all-out 80 punch a round pressure fighter, he's typically judicious with his punch selection so he doesn't get caught with something in return.

“The other problem he has is that he's not a huge puncher for 175 either.

“That said, he's a good athlete, and he's been in the shadow of his brother Jean Pascal forever, fighting on smaller shows, taking sparring partner work (primarily with Bute), and not getting any attention.

Now he has offers to face either Carl Froch or Beibut Shumenov, and make some good money. Shumenov is a bad matchup for him because he throws a lot of punches, but he has a much better chance of beating him than Froch.”

I asked Poulard's promoter, Eye of the Tiger, about Poulard-Froch. “We will refuse the Carl Froch offer because it is impossible for Nicholson to make 168 pounds,” a spokesman said. “We will continue the negotiations with Shumenov for a WBA title shot at 175 pounds.”

Poulard is on a solid streak now; the fighter debuted in 2004, lost his second and third bouts and has been almost spotless since, save for a UD12 decision loss to Sebastien Demers in 2009.

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