Kim Clavel is certainly not the only one to stomp on the idea of ​​getting back in the ring after the postponement of the next gala at Place Bell, moved from April 28 to May 12 as the Laval Rocket were preparing to start the series.
Sébastien Bouchard has been waiting for his chance since March 25, 2022, when he drew against Mexican Ricardo Lara at the Coliseum in Trois-Rivières.
“It’s because I had been inactive for another year,” defended the 36-year-old boxer, slowed down by injuries and the pandemic since 2017.
“The promotion is done more in Montreal. I’m a guy from Quebec. I don’t know if it has a connection or not. I was just asking to fight in the last two years. Life has made me fight once a year. »
Bouchard (19-2-1, 8 KOs) therefore took the bull by the horns and “put a little pressure” on promoter Yvon Michel to reiterate his intentions: “Let’s go, we do shows in Quebec, we give a blow, a last blitz. Hit or miss. »
Thus, the native of Baie-Saint-Paul was at the podium when the identity of Clavel’s opponent was announced during a press conference preceding the Jean Pascal-Michael Eifert gala on March 16. .
“We know I eat boxing, I eat fights, but inactivity is slowly killing my career,” said Bouchard, a welterweight (147 lbs), in a sort of shout. of the heart.
Three weeks later, the father of three young children got up early to redo the Quebec-Laval route to participate in another promotional event featuring Clavel. No one will dispute his motivation.
“The reality is that I want to go all the way with what I can do,” the hearty athlete told La Presse.
To put his desire to take on an adversary into perspective, he likes to quote ex-mixed martial arts fighter Georges St-Pierre.
“He always said he didn’t like to fight. He loves to train and to earn a living, he has to fight. The stress was eating him up inside. Me, it’s the opposite: I run on adrenaline. I love fighting. But to fight, I have to train. It is a compulsory passage. »
Bouchard could turn the page. The one who grew up on a dairy farm worked side by side in construction from the age of 16 to 26. He was then employed at the Port of Quebec where he could more easily combine his professional schedule with that of training. “Since I was 16, my whole life has been built around boxing. »
At one point, he “dropped everything” to go into boxing full time. Injuries — he tore every single bicep, including once in the middle of a fight, which cost him a costly loss in 2019 — and the pandemic ruined his plans.
Fortunately, while working at the port, he and a partner founded a small business specializing in injection foundation repairs. For the past two years, he has devoted himself full-time to Fissures Charlevoix.
“We went head first and it’s going really well. It allows us to make our schedule and our own business. »
But the call of boxing never left him. On May 12, he will face the young Mexican Fernando Altamirano Marquez (11-1, 9 KOs) in the undercard of the Clavel-Arellano-Reyes gala at Place Bell. The duel scheduled for eight rounds will take place at a negotiated weight of 150 lbs.
Bouchard knows very little about his next 22-year-old rival, a brawler he’s only been able to watch “two 10-second clips.” But coach Maxime Simard’s protege promises full commitment from the first bell.
In the eyes of Yvon Michel, this duel will be an opportunity for Bouchard to “find his bearings” in view of two galas of which he is to be the headliner in Quebec in June and in the fall.
Sébastien Bouchard is realistic, but ambitious: “We want to go for an intercontinental or international belt to enter the rankings and perhaps risk [being invited to] an optional defense in the world championship. I know I don’t have the talent to pick myself up as a mandatory aspirant. But by finding yourself in the top 15, you are one phone call away from fighting in the world championship. We want to go there and Yvon has the contacts to perhaps lead us there. »
In the meantime, the father of the family does not get bored with Amanda, 5, Tyler, 2, and Alana, 4 months, with whom “it goes at 200 miles an hour! “.