Caroline Veyre has taken to “blocking” her future opponents from accessing her social media accounts, to preserve some of the mystery surrounding her as the fight draws near.
“Don’t worry, I saw what I had to see, it doesn’t scare me, she’s nothing impressive,” said Frenchwoman Emma Gongora, whom she will face on May 12, at Place Bell in Laval, undercard of the duel between Kim Clavel and Naomi Arellano Reyes.
Veyre smiled upon reading the remark Gongora made in a video prepared for a press conference earlier this month.
“If she underestimates me, that’s really good for me!” pointed out the Montreal boxer a few minutes later. I think she doesn’t know who she’s dealing with. I expect to hear that a lot in boxing and it really doesn’t bother me. »
A quarter-finalist at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021, Veyre feels like a fish in water in the world of professional boxing, an avenue she had never considered during her 15-year career. among amateurs.
“I never wanted to turn pro,” confirms the one who made her debut last August in Cornwall. “It wasn’t something that interested me. But I loved boxing and I wanted to continue boxing. I just didn’t want to be on the national team anymore. I didn’t want to know any more of that. »
The Toronto 2015 Pan American Games gold medalist was part of the collective protest that led to the forced resignation of Boxing Canada’s high performance director last year. According to the complainants, Daniel Trépanier would have created a toxic climate within the organization.
“The environment was so unhealthy. With all this pressure that I experienced just before the Games, it was so difficult that I had to stop training for a long time. I was not able. »
The postponement of the Games due to the pandemic and the impossibility of adequate training in Quebec also weighed heavily.
“I went through it because my only goal was to make it all the way. I got there and it was really a pride. With all these difficulties, it went well. In addition, I won a first fight at the Olympics. »
In the quarter-finals, she lost to Italian Irma Testa, a future bronze medalist who was crowned world champion last month.
On the sidelines of the national team and tired of traveling around the world, Caroline Veyre no longer saw herself continuing her career in Olympic boxing.
She offered her services to Groupe GYM, a proposal that surprised its president Yvon Michel. In the eyes of the promoter, the 34-year-old athlete could aim for a podium at the 2024 Games in Paris, his hometown.
Veyre joined the group of Danielle Bouchard, Clavel’s trainer. After three first victorious fights among professionals, she no longer looks back.
“I haven’t even been with them for a year and I’ve already really evolved. My boxing is completely different. I am not at all the same boxer. »
The featherweight boxer (under 126 lbs) believes she has reached a milestone with her unanimous decision victory after six rounds against France’s Anaëlle Angerville (5-2-1) on March 16, before the defeat of Jean Pascal against Michael Eifert in Laval.
Angerville acted as a last-minute replacement after Gongora’s injury withdrawal. “It was against a good opponent and I got to practice all the things I had planned to do against Gongora,” said the Quebecer, who cracked the BoxRec top 20 with the win.
In Bouchard’s eyes, the current preparation is only an extension of that originally initiated for the same rival.
“We added little technical things, we work specifically for [Gongora], noted the coach. I know Caroline has all the skills necessary to pull off the game in this fight. She’s smart, brilliant. She has a good defensive and she can also hit solidly. »
After two losses in their first two encounters, Gongora won the next six. Like Angerville, the 29-year-old Marseillaise has extensive experience in kickboxing and muay thai, Thai boxing.
On her last stint in Quebec, in September, Gongora upset left-hander Martine Vallières Bisson, winning by unanimous decision after fracturing her nose.
Veyre mainly focused on studying the defeat of her future opponent in front of the French Estelle Mossely, still undefeated and now IBO world lightweight champion. A victory would allow him to enter the World Boxing Council rankings, where Gongora is ranked 17th.
Veyre was able to measure the path to be traveled by attending the coronation of the undisputed champion of her category, Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano (44-2, 30 KOs), on February 4, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“To get to this level, you need difficulty from the start. It’s not beating girls that I can knock out easily. I already have a good amateur experience. I still have to develop my style in professional boxing. I’m ready to do all of this. »
Originally from Paris, Veyre immigrated to Montreal with her parents, brother and sister when she was 14 years old. Integration was difficult. “I wanted to go back to France every year. I was nostalgic. The teenager practiced hip-hop dancing until a friend gave up the activity. After an inconclusive attempt at kickboxing, she turned to boxing at the age of 17. She didn’t know anything about it. “I thought it was like Rocky. We hit each other until the other falls and there is a lot of blood… I had not seen any boxing fight in my life. Then I understood that it really wasn’t that, that there was a strategy and that you shouldn’t get hit. The movements fascinated me and I wanted to learn them. It really has become an obsession. Leonard Kwitkowski, a Polish-born coach with a strong amateur background, took her under his wing and coached her for 15 years. “He’s practically like a father. His presence at all his fights is now unavoidable. “I’m not allowed to lose to him, so it’s super important that he’s here!” »
