Pier Olivier Cote: Stay Tuned for the 'Apou' Show, a Boxing Star in the Making

In the past month, Lucian Bute fought in England vs. Carl Froch. Many boxing fans from Quebec thought that the Romanian champion would be the hero of the night, but they ended up shocked by his loss.

The true Canadian hero of the night was sitting in the dark. Not many people talked about him. Actually, most media only mentioned the result of this fight. People were too busy analyzing if Bute was overrated or not.

By talking so much about the loss of Bute’s title, most people forget that a rising boxing star is in the making in the Quebec province. He was back in action the night of the Bute vs. Frosh fight, and once again, his performance stayed under the radar.

Yes, I’m talking about Pier Olivier Cote. He is still undefeated in 19 fights with 13 wins coming by way of knockout. His latest victim, in Nottingham, was Mark Lloyd, who didn’t stand a chance, losing by TKO in the fifth round.

Cote, alias "Apou," hasn’t reached his full potential yet, but he is getting better at every fight and the best is ahead for him. 

After his last fight, the IBF decided to rank Cote as the ninth challenger to the IBF title. It is quite an achievement as his latest opponent didn’t have such a breathtaking record. Lloyd had five losses in 20 fights before this encounter.

Still, the IBF was impressed enough by this one-sided victory to include him in the latest top 10.

Apou won six of his past seven fights before the limit. His brutal knockout victory vs. Jorge Luis Teron in November 2011 was astonishing. Clearly, Cote is only a few steps away from the world title.

A few months ago, in the story Can Pier Olivier Cote be the Next Manny Pacquiao, Cote’s relationship with his coach, François Duguay, was compared to the one of Manny Pacquiao and Freddy Roach. While they haven’t achieved the same greatness yet, this energizing team is definitely on the path to success.

La Presse (local media) suggests that Cote’s next step is to defend his current title in September. The opponent will likely be either Gavin Rees (36-1-1, 17 KO), Denis Shafikov (29-0-1, 17 KO), Karlo Tabaghua (17-3-0, 12 K.O) or Ali Chebah (35-2-0, 28 KO).

Stay tuned, because the Apou show has just started!