2023-04-17 13:54:18
His father would have liked him to become a policeman like him. However, it is finally in the ring that the boxer Alexis Barrière imposes himself with authority.
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Barrière, 27, still wins to be known in Quebec, even if, in his next fight, Thursday, he will pay the price for the final of a gala presented at the Casino de Montreal.
As this duel once morest Mike Marshall approaches, a visit to his training ground last week in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu allowed us to dive into an open book.
The past of the athlete, who grew up in Quebec before moving to Saint-Jean in 2015, brings a new perspective. Just like knowing that his father Yvan is currently acting in the close squad of the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, as a bodyguard.
“We won’t hide it, my father was quite strict when I was young, nothing was going on, said Barrière, with a smirk. We had a little friction because he had a path mapped out for me, he would have liked me to become a police officer too, but I was not good at school and I had trouble functioning with my ADHD ( Editor’s note: attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity). I worked a bit in construction, then I fell in love with boxing. Today, things are going very well with my father. I consider him one of my best friends.”
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
Among the values instilled by his dad, there is discipline, but more.
“I’m not afraid of anything,” said Barrière. Just to be a heavyweight in professional boxing, you can’t be afraid. This fear of getting hurt, even if I face big guys, it doesn’t exist in my head and that comes from my father, that’s for sure. I go for it and it doesn’t matter if I make mistakes.”
swallow the pill
Among the secrets of the past, it should be remembered that Barrière’s career in amateur boxing, during which he was Canadian champion, came to an abrupt end when, in March 2020, he was suspended for doping.
“However, I took nothing, I drank Gatorade,” says Barrière.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
Rather, his story makes mention, not without some embarrassment, of taking a fake Cialis pill.
“There was a night when I was at the party and there was a girl… A friend handed me a pill, it was Cialis, but contraband. It was cut with a steroid. (…) We went to court with the CCES [Centre canadien dans l’éthique pour le sport] to prove that I was involuntary. I pleaded guilty to consuming it, but was found involuntary. I had received a suspension of three or four months while initially they wanted to suspend me for five years.
“The circumstances are embarrassing, but you have to make peace with that, decided Barrière. It’s part of my story.”
A 180 degree turn
This episode will have cost a lot of money to Barrière and his entourage, the boxer having notably received the financial support of his trainer Marc-André Gauthier.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
“It was perhaps a blessing in disguise, admitted Barrière. ‘Cause when I was on the national team [en boxe amateur], I was on the party a bit. I took it less seriously, I was younger too… Now I’ve been sober for two years.”
“Sometimes you may need to grab walls, to climb them and smash them, he added. It was from there that I made a 180 degree turn in my life, lost my baby fat and turned pro giving 100%. What you do can be really big or really small, depending on what you do. You choose.”
A preparation in Massachusetts
Arriving at the gymnasium, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, we quickly notice the swollen eye of Quebec boxer Alexis Barrière.
“A nudge I got from a sparring partner in the Boston area,” he explains.
Barrière (9-0, 7 K.-O.) left nothing to chance in his preparation to defeat Thursday, at the Casino de Montréal, the American Mike Marshall (6-4-1, 4 K.-O. ), even going as far as making a few round trips in the state of Massachusetts.
Martin Chevalier / JdeM
Alexis Barrière, following his victory once morest Angel Gabriel Barron, Saturday August 28, 2021, at Stade IGA.
“We have a hard time having good training partners here, especially at heavyweight,” he admitted. It’s a little weird because I’ve helped a lot of people in the past and now that I’m rising in the ranks, there is no longer anyone in Quebec who agrees to help me. Sometimes, I understand that some have fights in sight… There is the fact that I am left-handed which does not help. Some want even less. We must therefore seek help abroad.”
Compete once morest the best
Beyond the absolute dream of becoming world heavyweight champion one day, Barrière notes a project that is close to his heart for the rest of his career.
“I chose to go to the professionals to face the best. I dream of going to a big training camp, knowing that I will fight once morest a top. For example, [Oleksandr] Usyk is a boxer that I really like. I would like to face it and feel at the top of what I can do in my career. I got there and that’s my short-term goal.”
“Obviously if you ask me what I want the most is to be world champion, said Barrière. With the skills I have, and I’m still young, I think it can be.”
Postponed
Usyk’s name appears in Barrière’s speech as his own style resembles that of the Ukrainian, also left-handed. So much so that the Briton Tyson Fury considered calling on the Quebecer to prepare to face Usyk. This possible fight, however, fell through.
“It’s gone, but my name is circulating there and that’s a good thing,” noted Barrière.
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