It’s Saturday night at the Casino de Montréal, Canada. More precisely in la Belle Province called Québec, the one where people speak French. Chloé Potvin is in the ring in a Super Lightweight contest.
Injury and legal fight
What happened to Chloé after her win against Sky Houghton in May 2019? She started eyeing another fight, but she picked up an elbow injury while skateboarding. What derailed her plans also brought business complications. The local promoter tried to tear up her deal under the allegation that practicing another sport than boxing is a breach of contract.
Ever the feisty one, Chloé took the guy to court and won. He still owes her two fights with full purses until the Oiseau de malheur is free as a bird.
Injury recovery took some time, but Chloé was able to get back in the gym in March. Hard training and sparring sessions helped her regain her shape. She had to choose between a tune-up or a proven name for her return to competition. She went for the middle road in Stella Haussmann, a big puncher who has her limits.
Stella took a few months off after getting destroyed by Alesia Schumann in September 2019. Then, she had a couple of tune-ups to regain her confidence. That ended with a brutal knockout win in both cases. Traveling to Montréal to take on Chloé Potvin means stepping up again.
Chloé goes into this fight with a 20 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws record. Stella’s record stands at 7-1.
How does it go? Let’s find out at ringside.
No clemency
The Québécoise wants to take the first round to feel things out. Jabs, basic moves and tentative combinations to assess the opposition. The German is in no mood to play around, though, because she has a reputation to restore. She goes straight in with power shots. Solitary Confinement doesn’t believe in clemency, from the courtroom to jail to the boxing ring.
That opening round is a painful one for Chloé, who is surprised by the aggressiveness and the power of the visitor.
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At the urging of her coach, Chloé opens fire in the second round, which is more even. The two boxers have their moments and it’s not clear who wins it. Possibly a 10-10 on the judges’ scorecards, unless they have a little bias for the woman in blue.
Return to form
Chloé truly finds her rhythm in the third engagement. Although an aggressive slugger, she plays a game of patience on the counter to make Stella walk into big shots. The best one she lands is her signature punch, the right uppercut. Not unlike a certain Alesia Schumann, she is comfortable with a powerful release under pressure. A clinical, painful punch that makes your head turn and spin at the same time.
Clearly a Chloé round.
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Oiseau de malheur carries the next two rounds with selective peppering of Stella. She alternates between attacking and counterattacking with the accuracy and balance you can expect from a seasoned veteran. Although her brute force would make a toughman contest easy to win against Chloé, Stella cannot rival the glossy polish of the more experienced Québécois puncher in front of her.
Explosive finish
We have more of the same in Round 6, which Chloé dominates with ease.
Stella’s legs wobble a bit as she takes power shots. Desperate to make a dent, she swings for the fences with a left hook and gets caught at the worst possible time. Chloé comes in with a howitzer of a right cross. The blow is so supercharged that it knocks her off her feet just like a Chelsea Carter tackle could.
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Stella’s fall is so convincing that referee Chantal Gagné steps in, waves Chloé away and declares the knockout within a single second, even before the visitor is done falling.
Chloé immediately turns to her corner and runs to her coach for a hug.
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Title ambitions
The official particulars confirm that the home fighter scored a knockout at 1:06 in Round 6. Her record now stands at 21 wins (18 KO), 5 losses and 2 draws. It was a blast of a return to the ring after more than a year away.
Ranked fourth in the latest BOX! Magazine rankings, the winner believes she can reach the greatest heights again as she fields questions.
Chloé: “I think that this win is a statement. I defeated Stella Haussmann convincingly. Almost as convincingly as Alesia Schumann did a year ago, and I’m sure that the world champion will see this fight. I don’t know what she’ll think when she sees this, but I’d like her to consider me for a title shot. I’ve earned my stripes and nobody ever gave me that shot. Maybe next year?”
In Munich
Regina: “Good return to the ring. Definitely an option for us.”
Alesia: “I like Chloé. Hard-working fighter and it’s true that nobody gave her a shot. Not that I owe her anything but she’d be a good challenge.”
I think you missed a trick by not including Chloe skateboarding :D.
Oof. Being a fighter in a legal dispute isn’t easy. Fighting is often how these fighters gain income and to be on the shelf is tough.
She takes out that frustration on Stella Hausmann, who seemed to be wanting to rebuild herself after getting demolished by Alesia in the German title fight. Unfortunately for Stella, her mystique appears to be completely shattered and Chloe just takes her to school.
That right hook/uppercut from Chloe was a monster shot and it was probably a key punch that led to the finish.
Chloe polishes Stella off in a similarly impressive way, leaving Stella out on her butt. Again. An impressive victory for the Canadian, who is looking very stylish with that new top :).
As for predicting Chloe and Alesia…it feels like Chloe is the type of fighter that Alesia is designed to handle. She’s taller and I think her defence would eventually undo Chloe. Not a bad idea for a first title defence though.
Chloé faced a fair amount of difficulty in life but as her last two fights demonstrate, especially this one, she can come out of battle victorious and powerful. She did that against Stella today. Our former German title challenger won’t be the same after this big KO.
I never used blue all that much in outfits, but I agree that this top is a good fit for Chloé. So are the custom trunks. Sometimes you go out of your comfort zone to get it right for a character.
Alesia-Chloé could be a good fight. What may distinguish the Canadian from others is her added toughness. Although Taylor Grant broke it down in the past…
Nice to see other characters are getting some attention, even if poor Stella gets knocked out again!
Thanks. It’s nice to showcase these characters more. I fangirled when making that mini-sequence with Chloé ?
Creator’s notes:
This chapter, and the upcoming ones, will deepen the “back to the roots” that I announced earlier this year for my storytelling. A refocus that started with the divisions surrounding Alesia and Sophie goes further with updates on the women that are potential opponents for them.
Today, we get an update on Chloé Potvin as the “bird of misfortune” who had a tough time in the past year. The next couple of posts will feature more Super Lightweight fighters.
I’m very excited to do this since I feel like I have neglected certain characters after creating them. It’s high time to define their path, especially with Alesia being world champion.
Well this should be interesting, it’ll be nice to see others characters getting the spotlight since Alesia is now world champ.
Having Chloé face Alesia in the future would be interesting, wonder how she would hold up against the queen of defense.
I really liked her match against Stella, wasn’t expecting to see her again, she landed some good shots earlier in the match but Chloé caught her and took the fight, I think Stella has a thing for being knocked out laying on the ropes, first Alesia and now Chloé lol ?
Favorite pic has to be the right up to the chin, you can see the power behind it can could tell Stella couldn’t see it, looked like a blind spot 🙂
Chloé was probably the most under-used character here before today. I like the background I gave her, and yet she was barely ever shown.
This win puts her in a good position. She could be a solid challenge for Alesia, who likes what she has seen in this fight.
Poor Stella. I don’t think she has what it takes to be in the Top 5. Not after two big demolitions by the best fighters in the division.