2024-01-30 00:30:00
Quebec boxer Alexis Barrière is floating on a cloud, undoubtedly a golden cloud, while he has been serving as training partner to Tyson Fury for almost a month, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“It’s another world here, there’s money, it’s incredible,” he says, between two boxing sessions held in the facilities of the Dorat Naid Resort, a luxury hotel complex.
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Aged 28, Barrière tries not to get too carried away, but chemistry develops between him and the Fury clan, which leads him to say a sentence loaded with meaning: “My life is going to change.”
For the moment, the Quebec heavyweight is Fury’s main teammate in training to prepare him for his February 17 megafight against Ukrainian champion Oleksandr Usyk. The WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO titles will all be on the line in this heavyweight battle.
Photo Daniel Leal / AFP
“I train twice a day with Fury, from Monday to Saturday,” explains Barrière. The quality of my boxing has tripled since I have been here. The main difference is in the strategies to be used during a fight, what we call “ring IQ”.”
In his place
Barrière (11-0, 9 KOs), who himself is undefeated since the start of his professional career, feels at home in the same ring as Fury, who is 6’8″, i.e. four to five inches taller than the Quebecer.
“When I arrived here, I was going to assess where I stood against the elite. One round with Fury is like three rounds with others, but I am told that I am perhaps the one who gives him the most trouble among his training partners,” says Barrière, claiming to have received along with good comments from coach Sugar Hill.
Alexis Barrière (center) rubs shoulders with many heavyweights, in Riyadh, while serving as training partner to Tyson Fury, in January 2024. In the photo, he finds himself in the company of Agron Smakici (left) and Elvir Sendro (right). PHOTO PROVIDED BY NEW ERA PROMOTION
Better yet, the Quebecer recognizes that he developed a frank friendship with the British boxer nicknamed the “Gypsy King”.
Tyson Fury, at a press conference, November 16, 2023. Photo Daniel Leal / AFP
“Honestly, she’s one of the most beautiful people I’ve met in my life,” adds the man who grew up in Quebec before moving to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu about ten years ago. We get along well, we eat together, we also sometimes go shopping.”
Headed by the Fury brothers?
It is especially this relationship with Tyson, just like that with Shane, the boxer’s brother, which makes Barrière believe that his life is about to change. The two members of the Fury family would even like to advise and supervise him in the future in obtaining lucrative fights.
“They told me that they would be disappointed if I did not become world champion within two or three years,” says Barrière.
Olympic qualifications: a simple step aside for Alexis Barrière
By describing his way of moving in a ring, boxer Alexis Barrière explains a little why he has arranged to meet, from February 29 to March 12, in Italy, for the qualifications for the next Summer Olympic Games. Paris.
“I move around a lot in the ring, I often move sideways to give myself angles,” he says.
For Barrière, this brief detour that could lead him to Paris in 2024 is precisely a step aside, and not a step backwards, in order to take several others forward. He gives himself an angle for the future.
Alexis Barrière, in training, in April 2023. MARIO BEAUREGARD/AGENCE QMI
Barrière assures that his career as a professional boxer remains his priority, but a presence at the Olympic Games, or even obtaining a medal, could propel him onto the international scene.
“I didn’t have the chance to go there during my amateur career and I consider that it’s the right time for me,” he adds. I see some redemption there.”
The podium in Italy
For his entire career, Barrière believes that his Canadian championship belt, won on May 21, 2022 in Brossard against Abokan Bokpe, is the most prestigious prize he has won so far. He would happily add an Olympic medal before continuing his ultimate quest: becoming a professional world champion.
Last December, in Montreal, Barrière dominated the Canadian qualifications, winning in the final against British-Columbian William Nike Blackmore. A podium in Italy would now allow him to qualify for Paris.
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