MANTECA, CA | There’s something comforting about sitting next to Steven Butler, especially after a 14-hour flight and car journey to meet him.
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In this regard, the Journal’s representative arrives late Wednesday afternoon at the Great Wolf Lodge, a themed and family hotel in a suburb of Stockton, to meet the one who will fight Janibek Alimkhanuly in the WBO world middleweight championship bout on Saturday night.
At the beginning of the conversation, we ask him which part of the Saint-Michel neighborhood he grew up in. So we quickly learn that we were practically neighbors. Almost the same address, two avenues down, in front of the park where we played with our son when he was little and where Steven has probably hung around since he was a teenager.
Today it’s a part of Saint-Michel that has changed quite a bit and gone relatively quiet, but when Butler was a teenager there were many pitfalls.
get it out
Steven Butlet is quiet, composed, a little shy and very nice. It’s hard to imagine that he’s already flirted with crime. He reminds us that he went to three different secondary schools and his third release marked the end of his schooling.
“I got out of this by boxing,” he admits. We say we want out of the neighborhood, that’s what we call the neighborhood. Over time I bought myself a house and my mother bought a house. I wouldn’t say I got out of misery, but I got out of shit.
As he looks back on the neighborhood he eventually left to settle in the suburbs, he realizes that he narrowly escaped, but more importantly that he could have a positive impact.
“If you live in the neighborhood, you can see how the area is developing. There are all kinds of people. There are bad choices that lead to others. I’m glad I could stand out.
“Winning a world championship fight would be a win for the whole neighborhood, for everyone in need. He’s a guy who came from the neighborhood and made it. It can give hope even to the youngest who don’t believe in it.
Proud
A bit like Luguentz Dort or Chris Boucher who inspired Montreal North by becoming household names in the NBA, he wants to inspire his old neighborhood.
“I’m sort of the pride of the neighborhood. The world I grew up in doesn’t envy me because I left the industry and now have a family and a better life, I don’t do bad things, I don’t sell drugs, I work and I’m purposeful.
“The world doesn’t envy me for that, rather I become a source of pride, they’re happy to see where I stand. I wouldn’t say I’m under any pressure but I don’t want to let them down and play a role for the youth.”
The 27-year-old boxer knows that in an uneven neighborhood like Saint-Michel, cut through by the city motorway and two quarries that have left two major scars in the heart of the city, it’s not easy for everyone. Panorama.
“Some have it harder because they have done bad things. They now work nine to five, have children and are struggling to make ends meet.”
Click
And how did boxing contribute to its development? By becoming the focus of interest for a young man who is already talented in sports.
“I started boxing when I was 11, but I was an athlete. I also played soccer, baseball and hockey. But when I turned pro, it clicked.
“When I was young I was always in the top flight, I didn’t just play in the park. When I decided to dedicate it all to boxing, I had just completed my freshman year in midget CC hockey and might have made it to midget AAA, but I had just injured my shoulder from a tackle.
And he grew up playing his favorite sport, which made him want to push himself.
“When I turned pro, that’s when I started. I made mistakes as a young adult, but now, at 27, I’m content. I’ve been a professional for nine years and I’m in my full physical and mental maturity.
So he still has the whole future ahead of him, regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s fight. He already has a big win under his belt. He got out of the hood.