His father would have wished that he had become a police officer like him. But only in the ring does the boxer Alexis Barrière assert himself with authority.
Barrière, 27, is still winning to become known in Quebec, even if he will pay the final prize at a gala presented at the Casino de Montreal in his next fight on Thursday.
• Also read: With his “above average in-ring intelligence” Alexis Barrière can…
As that clash against Mike Marshall draws closer, a visit to his training ground in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu last week allowed us to delve into an open book.
The athlete, who grew up in Quebec before moving to Saint-Jean in 2015, brings a new perspective to his past. Just like the knowledge that his father Yvan is currently acting as a bodyguard in the closest squad of Quebec Premier François Legault.
“We won’t hide it, my father was pretty strict when I was young, there was nothing going on,” said Barrière with a grin. We had a bit of friction because he had mapped out a path for me, he would have liked me to be a cop too, but I wasn’t doing well at school and was struggling with my ADHD 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.”
Discipline is one of the values inherited from his father, but more.
“I’m not afraid of anything,” said Barrière. Just to be a heavyweight in professional boxing, you don’t have to be afraid. That fear of getting hurt even when I’m facing big boys doesn’t exist in my mind and that comes from my dad, that’s for sure. I’m going to do it and it doesn’t matter if I make mistakes.”
swallow the pill
Among the mysteries of the past, it should be remembered that Barrière’s career in amateur boxing, in which he was Canadian champion, came to an abrupt end when he was banned for doping in March 2020.
“But I didn’t take anything, I drank Gatorade,” says Barrière.
Rather, his story, not without some embarrassment, mentions taking a fake Cialis pill.
“There was one night when I was at the party and there was a girl… A friend gave 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 I was involuntary. I pleaded guilty to using it but was found involuntary. I had received a suspension of three or four months, when originally they wanted me to be suspended for five years.
“The circumstances are embarrassing, but you have to make peace with that,” Barrière decided. It’s part of my story.”
A 180 degree turn
This episode will have cost Barrière and his entourage a lot of money, notably given that the boxer received the financial support of his trainer Marc-André Gauthier.
“It was perhaps a blessing in disguise,” Barrière admitted. Because when I was in the national team [en boxe amateur]I was at the party for a bit. I took it less seriously, I was younger too… I’ve been sober for two years now.”
“Sometimes you might have to grab walls, scale them, and smash them,” he added. From there I made a 180 degree turn in my life, lost my baby fat and turned pro by giving 100%. What you do can be very big or very small depending on what you are doing. You choose.”
A preparation in Massachusetts
Arriving at the high school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, we quickly notice the swollen eye of Quebec boxer Alexis Barrière.
“A nudge I got from a Boston-area sparring partner,” he explains.
Barrière (9-0, 7 KOs) left nothing to chance in his preparation to even defeat the American Mike Marshall (6-4-1, 4 KOs) at the Casino de Montréal on Thursday until to some round trips in the state of Massachusetts.
Martin Chevalier / JdeM
Alexis Barrière, after beating Angel Gabriel Barron, Saturday 28 August 2021, at the Stade IGA.
“It’s hard for us here to have good training partners, especially in the heavyweight division,” he admitted. It’s a bit strange because I’ve helped a lot of people in the past and now that I’m moving up the ranks there isn’t anyone in Quebec willing to help me out. Sometimes I understand that some fights are on the horizon… There’s the fact that I’m left-handed, which doesn’t help. Some want even less. So we have to seek help abroad.”
Compete against the best
Alongside the absolute dream of one day becoming world heavyweight champion, Barrière notices a project that will be dear to his heart for the rest of his career.
“I decided to go pro to compete against the best. I dream of going to a big training camp knowing I’ll be fighting a top. For example, [Oleksandr] Usyk is a boxer that I really like. I want to face it and feel at the top of what I can achieve in my career. I got there and that’s my short-term goal.”
“If you ask me, of course, what I want most is to be world champion,” said Barrière. With the skills I have and I’m still young, I think it’s possible.”
Delay
Usyk’s name appears in Barrière’s speech because his own style is similar to that of the Ukrainian, who is also left-handed. So much so that Brit Tyson Fury considered urging the Quebecer to prepare to face Usyk. However, this possible fight failed.
“It’s gone, but my name is out there and that’s a good thing,” noted Barrière.