Photo: Vincent Ethier – Wilkens Mathieu (9-0, 6 KOs) will be back at home on August 17 at the Videotron Centre. It is the Argentinian with the steel chin, Facundo Galovar (15-11-2, 9 KOs), who will be facing him in the Quebec City ring.
I was surprised to learn that Facundo Galovar was being brought in Quebec City to face Wilkens Mathieu. After all, the Argentinian has just completed 8 rounds with Mehmet Unal and 10 more with Albert Ramirez.
This fight tells us that we have confidence in Mathieu, but the fact that it’s still a 6 rounds reminds us that we want to continue to respect the process with the 19-year-old athlete.
Plus, as Galovar already faced two light-heavyweight contenders, the audience will be able to compare their performances. Now, that’s a good news, because Wilkens Mathieu’s journey is not easy to compare.
A bright future does not make it predictable.
At Eye of the Tiger
Wilkens Mathieu will be 19 years and 7 months old when he steps into the ring at the Videotron Centre for his 10th career fight on August 17. Let’s first compare with 5 other tigers who started under the age of 20.
Jhon Orobio: he is currently the 2nd youngest active fighter of EOTTM and to give you an idea, he started professionally at 19 years and 9 months, in March 2023. Note, however, that the further down we go in weight divisions, generally, the less the physical development takes time.
Steven Butler: at the same age, he is the only one on this list to have more experience than Mathieu. The Montrealer, who was then fighting under 154 pounds, had one more fight, with a record of 11-0, 9 KOs. Eventually, he would experience his first world championship in his 31st fight, at 160 lbs, at age 24.
David Lemieux: no one will forget his meteoric rise among pros. Starting his career with a record of 25 victories and 24 knockouts, his legendary power even forced his team to skip a few steps. In the end, the ultimate objective will be reached and accomplished with another team, at 26 years old and after 35 fights, against Hassan N’Dam.
Erik Bazinyan: still undefeated in 33 fights, he is also still waiting for his chance at 29 years old. Without wanting to blame others, it’s no secret that the first 5 years of its development were up and down. However, he seems closer than ever to at least getting a major fight.
Lexson Mathieu: There is a natural comparison with his big brother Lexson. From his professional debut, at the age of 19, he was very physically mature and immediately opted for the fast track, for a whirlwind and memorable ride in professional boxing. A path entirely different from that of Wilkens.
‘We’re going to take our time,’ said Camille Estephan in Shawinigan.
Worldwide, on BoxRec
In search of an international comparison, I called on BoxRec to see where Wilkens Mathieu stood compared to boxers of his age and weight category.
Simple observation: there aren’t many.
The pride of Quebec City is currently ranked 103rd out of 1,507 in the 168 lbs, the best division of the noble art according to many. In the ‘top 103’, there is only one other boxer under the age of 20, namely the 19-year-old Colombian (impossible to find his date of birth) Juan Navares, ranked 75th thanks to a perfect record of 8-0, all by knockout.
Moreover, we then have to go down to 202nd place to find another, namely Arturo Santacruz Cristosto, an 18-year-old athlete from Guadalajara, who has a slim perfect record of 1-0, 1 KO.
Development-wise, it’s also interesting, because Mathieu reached 103rd having only fought in duels scheduled for 4 and 6 rounds. In this regard, once again, only one boxer is ahead of him, the American Tipton Walker (9-0-1, 6 KOs), in 96th place, who is still awaiting a first duel of 8 rounds at 27 years.
Championship age
Now, let’s further assume that Wilkens Mathieu, who has hovered between 164 and 173 pounds since the start of his career, decides to stay at 168 pounds for his first world breakthrough. At what age could we aspire to see him fight for a title?
Extreme case: it certainly won’t be the target, but know that the youngest super middleweight champion in history is the ‘Mexican Monster’, David Benavidez, who did it at 20 years and 9 months in 2017. He also turned professional at age 16.
History Page: the previous record holder was American Darrin ‘Schoolboy’ Van Horn who, after turning pro at age 15, won the IBF title at 22 years and 11 months in 1991. Under 3 years Afterwards, he retired at 25 to finish his studies.
Quebec Champions: Lucian Bute had 27 at his IBF title triumph and Dave Hilton had 37 when he lifted the WBC title. If we consider the IBO as a major title, Osleys Iglesias was 24 years old when he won the title.
Fun fact: speaking of Iglesias, Wilkens Mathieu is considered the #59 contender of his belt (they rank up to 100 using an algorithm somewhat similar to BoxRec). He notably surpasses two ex-champions, Tyron Zeuge (65th) and Giovanni De Carolis (74th), the very young Juan Navares (89th) and even a certain Mark Heffron (97th).
Prediction: as I would feel bad for making you read all this just to end with a ‘patience, guys,’ I’m risking it all. Wilkens Mathieu will be in a world title fight in less than 5 years, in February 2029. At the age of 24, three days after Valentine’s Day, he will win the IBF 168 lb title, just vacated by Osleys Iglesias who will left it to conquer the 175 pounds division.
