Wilkens Mathieu evokes memories of Kelly Pavlik with Falcao stoppage

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Super middleweight prospect Wilkens Mathieu stayed undefeated, stopping Esquiva Falcao in the eighth round tonight in Quebec City.

The 21-year-old Mathieu (16-0, 11 KO) didn’t have it entirely his way in this one, as the 36-year-old Falcao, a former Olympic silver medalist, came in from Brazil and gave a really honest effort, he was there to win, and he had moments of success.

But the power and speed and youth of Mathieu was just a bit too much. As Falcao was doing some of his best work of the fight, Mathieu cracked him with a shot that pretty much took Falcao’s legs out. Mathieu saw it, and if you remember Kelly Pavlik stopping Jermain Taylor back in 2007, this might look at least a little familiar to you:

WAVED OFF IN THE FINAL SECONDS OF ROUND 8 OMG #MathieuFalcao | LIVE NOW on DAZN pic.twitter.com/sa6kROplRq

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 12, 2026

If you haven’t seen Taylor vs Pavlik I, first of all, you should, but here are the highlights, via the nostalgia machine that is HBO still hosting boxing highlights from over 18 years ago on YouTube:


Now obviously, we’re just talking about the way the stoppage came together as the memory. Of course Mathieu vs Falcao was not a Taylor vs Pavlik-level fight in any way. It wasn’t as dramatic, wasn’t as good, wasn’t as big, wasn’t that sort of marquee event. Pavlik was an underdog who rallied for one of the great shocks of the 2000s. Mathieu came in as the clear A-side and favorite.

Mathieu wasn’t absolutely perfect in tonight’s fight, but there was great value in this experience. Falcao did show up, did compete, and Mathieu came through it well. You can see the legitimate potential in Mathieu to be a real world-level fighter, and without meaning to be disrespectful, you just don’t see that in most of the Quebec headliners. That Mathieu has already gotten to headliner status at 21 says plenty in itself; it’s a very good boxing scene up there, and he’s built real career momentum.

So if you haven’t been keeping tabs on Wilkens Mathieu, you should start.

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