“When I think about it, it still happens in the evening that I have little tears. »
No, Kim Clavel is still “not at peace” with what happened on the fateful evening of October 7. The boxer then controversially lost her world championship fight against Evelin Nazarena Bermúdez by split decision at Place Bell.
“It doesn’t go away,” she said. I’m in a good mood, I chat with people, I’m decent. But the pain it caused in my heart is still there. »
The boxer speaks with La Presse on the sidelines of the induction evening of 10 new members into the Hall of Fame of the Gold Medal Club, an organization that promotes emerging Quebec athletes. As for Clavel and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, they received the Inspiration Gold Medals, two new honorary distinctions from the NPO.
We are sitting at a table in the main passage of Place Bell in Laval, in fact. While waiting for the ceremony to begin, “KK” takes the time to speak with the verve and passion that we know him to have.
Since then, she has had to rebuild herself, she agrees. “It’s like after the fight I need to be proud of myself for something other than boxing. »
Direction his mother’s ranch, in Saint-Liguori, near Joliette.
“My filly is 2 years old. Her name is KK. [My goal] was to train her. »
“I made small goals for myself. “Today I’m going to do this with my filly.” I did it, it worked. I made myself a game plan. I was asking my sister, who is a horse trainer, questions. She helped me from a distance. I had never driven a truck with the horse trailer in the back. I said, “Mom, I want to learn that!” We drove, I went to pick up my friends’ horses. I felt proud. »
Then a stay in Mexico allowed him to completely drop out. She only came back at the beginning of this week. And already, a first visit to his gym gave him new emotions.
“I won’t lie to you, it hurt me. […] I know what I need to do to get back to where I want to be. I know it is extremely difficult. I know that no matter how hard you do all the work you have to do, in the most perfect way, you are never guaranteed to get to the end of the road. And retracing the route without being sure of getting to the end is a risk worth taking. But I think that’s the beauty of sport, too. »
Do we sense any doubt on her part about her future as a professional boxer?
“No,” she assures quickly. I know that the passion I still have. I love this sport. I like less what is around all that. Judging sports is difficult. »
Yvon Michel knows something about it. The promoter had attacked judge Benoît Roussel and, by the same token, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ), after the defeat of his boxer in October. He notably accused the official of bias against local pugilists, even revealing at a press conference that he had asked the RACJ that Roussel not officiate at this gala.
Michel, also present at Thursday evening’s ceremony, will soon have to explain himself as part of a hearing with the Régie, which accuses him of having verbally attacked representative Sylvie Lécuyer and judge Roussel that evening.
“We’re going to say how we saw that, our perspective,” he told La Presse. […] I trust that the people who will hear us are people who have good judgment, and who will realize what happened. »
The promoter is cautious when he returns to the facts, a month and a half later. He refrains from mentioning the judge’s name again, because he doesn’t want to “put anyone down.” But he emphasizes that if “it had gone the right way” before the gala, we wouldn’t be here today.
Kim Clavel says she is “lucky” to have people who “are there to defend [her]”.
“I think Yvon was very transparent,” underlines the one who was seated next to him during the post-fight press conference. People like transparency, in general. I didn’t hear him being disrespectful. He just told the truth word for word. »
Yvon Michel is reassuring about the future of Kim, in whom he still has complete confidence.
“If I forced things, I could probably get her back to the world championship very early, maybe even in her next fight. But this is not the right thing to do. Now, she needs, with her team, to regain confidence, to get going and not to go too quickly. We’re going to give him two fights, and in the fall of 2024, we’re going to be ready. »
The promoter assures that despite his two defeats in three fights, Clavel and his “spectacular style” are “in demand”.
“We don’t just want her to become world champion. We want her to become champion, and to stay there for a long time. It’s a step back to start again in the right way. »
