By Richard Cloutier

Main Events and InterBox presented the long awaited showdown between the Canadian middleweight champion Francis Lafreniere (10-5-2) and former world contender Renan St-Juste (26-4-1). The International IBF belt at middleweight will be at stake.

This duel will take place as part of the undercard to the championship rematch for the unified world light heavyweight titles between IBF, WBA and WBO titleholder Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev and former world champion Jean Pascal on January 30 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

St-Juste said he was eager to get in the ring on January 30:

"I beat everyone in Quebec in my division with the exception of two: David Lemieux and Francis Lafrenière. The latter, which has made significant progress recently in addition to having increased significantly in the world rankings, was next on my list. He's a good fighter and I do not underestimate him. This will be a first for him but at the Bell Centre when he will face an experienced boxer. "

Lafrenière, which was a seamless path in his last seven outings has not been intimidated by the experience of his opponent:

"I had the chance to train with several talented fighters like Lucian Bute, David Lemieux, Georges St-Pierre and Eleider Alvarez. I learned a lot and am ready for the next challenge who has already done much talking. On January 30 at the Bell Centre, this will not only personnel between Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal; it will be for me and Renan St-Juste as well."

At the same gala, fans can also see in action the French WBC champion Shiller Hyppolite (18-1-0) of Montreal, Steven Butler sensation (13-0-1), Yves Ulysse Jr. (10-0- 0), David Theroux (8-1-0) and Sébastien Bouchard (11-1-0), among others. The name of the respective rivals however, is not yet known.