Photos: Noé Cloutier – Jacob (94-11) and Nolann Blais (38-9), following in the footsteps of the greats at Pound 4 Pound Boxing Club.
Jacob Blais is 21 years old. He just won the Canadian championship and plans to turn pro in the coming months. The perfect story for a piece titled The Next Generation. But the story doesn’t end there…
He is closely followed by Nolann, 17, who will aim for the national junior title next May. A true family affair.
After the Hilton brothers, and somewhere between the Mathieu brothers, could we already be witnessing Quebec’s next great boxing duo?
From Day One
These kinds of stories don’t happen by chance. When it runs in the family, it starts from the very beginning.
“I started boxing at 4 years old, and four years later, my brother started at 3. Our father used to box when he was younger—he even competed as an amateur—so you could say it’s in our blood,” says the pride of Les Plaines.
At first, like their father, they tried karate, but boxing is what truly clicked for them. Since then, they have trained at L’Imperium in Terrebonne, then at Le Local in Montreal East, and eventually at Pound 4 Pound to take their skills to the next level.
“We’ve been all-in since day one—we never took a break,” notes Jacob Blais, who won the Ringside World Championship at just 12 years old.
In the Right Place
Without sounding like a sales pitch or product placement, Pound 4 Pound is the ideal place for anyone aspiring to climb the ranks from Olympic boxing to the professional level.
Sharing the same gym as Artur Beterbiev, Christian Mbilli, and all the pros under Marc Ramsay and Samuel Décarie-Drolet is a huge source of motivation for a young boxer. And that’s exactly what Jordan Mathieu, the owner of P4P, points out.
The 24-year-old coach and entrepreneur, who is also a matchmaker at Eye of the Tiger, was just 23 when his coach, Vincent Auclair, handed him the reins of the gym nearly two years ago.
“It all happened fast,” he says, adding that he hasn’t changed the gym’s DNA.
“We knew it was a gym with a very professional style. Without taking anything away from Le Local, we felt we had reached a plateau there. Since we were already traveling from Les Plaines to Montreal, this place seemed like the perfect fit,” explains Jacob Blais, who, along with his brother, has been training at the Jeanne-Mance Street club for the past two to three years.
Different Styles
There’s more than one kind of “professional style” in boxing. Each of the Blais brothers has his own.
Jacob’s coach finds it harder to pinpoint a direct comparison for him, but he sees similarities with the boxing style of his close friend—whom we’ll get to in a moment—Wilkens Mathieu.
Good speed, solid reflexes, a timing-based style… skills that could shine even more in the pro ranks.
For Nolann, the comparison is more obvious.
In the gym, they call him “Pitbull.”
Go on YouTube, watch a fight of Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, and you’ll understand. Stylistically, aside from the fact that Nolann Blais is taller than 5’4″, the comparison makes perfect sense. He’s a compact fighter, physically strong, who hits hard and loves to close the distance… and eventually break down his opponents.
The kind of athlete who could win a Canadian title and help you move furniture in the same weekend, as Laurent Poulin once put it.
“Rejoint @BlaisBoxeFitness.com”
Hearing my friend Jordan talk about “Pitbull” reminded me of an episode of Laurent’s podcast, where Marc Ramsay said that no matter how flashy a boxer is, you also need some “sandpaper” to succeed in the ring.
But in another episode of the same podcast, in a discussion as insightful as it was entertaining, another prominent Quebec coach, Moe Latif, talked about the importance of being “a pretty boy” to be marketable.
Both statements hold true, and the Blais brothers seem to understand that.
On TikTok alone, Jacob Blais has nearly 15,000 followers, Nolann has around 3,000, and their professional account, @BlaisBoxeFitness.com, has over 2,000. The two brothers also give boxing lessons, either at Le Local or in the garage of their home in La Plaine.
Along with their older brother, Danick, they became homeowners in 2023.
Beyond boxing and real estate, Jacob is also involved in content creation for a broader audience through another TikTok account, @CritiqueExpertMontrealais. With about 3,000 followers, he reviews restaurants, gives various tips, and even posts travel vlogs—with none other than Wilkens Mathieu!
“The videos are just for fun […]. But honestly, I like surrounding myself with people who push me to be better, not the other way around. That’s why Wilkens and I get along so well. It helps me because he’s been through the same steps I’m taking now. And more broadly, he’s one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to boxing,” says the 21-year-old athlete.
Names to Remember
If all goes well, Jacob Blais—who would compete in the super lightweight division—could join Wilkens in the pros this spring. He’s just waiting for the right offer.
A Golden Gloves champion with the junior nationals in his sights, “Pitbull” could follow in a few years after some time in the senior ranks.
In addition to the athletes trained by Marc Ramsay and Samuel Décarie-Drolet at the shared facilities of the Ramsay Boxing Academy, here are a few professional fighters from Pound 4 Pound Boxing Club:
- Christopher Guerrero (13-0, 8 KOs): Trained by Giuseppe Moffa…
- Luis Santana (13-0, 6 KOs): Still coached by Vincent Auclair, with support from Justus Tshis…
- Jean-Gardy François (5-0-1, 4 KOs): Recently fought in the Dominican Republic and is trained by Jordan Mathieu…
- Junior Petanqui (0-0): Coached by Jordan Mathieu and set to make his professional debut in the coming months under the Three Lions Promotions banner…
