MANTECA, CA | Steven Butlet will have two key allies in his corner on Saturday night at the Arena in Stockton.
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He can count on his father, Clint, and on Rénald Boisvert, whom he calls his second father. And it doesn’t bother the birth father at all, as the two men sit across from each other to meet Le Journal.
“We often say it’s his second father, but it’s true,” affirms Clint. I was always present in my husband’s life, but Rénald was his confidante. Maybe he was talking to her about things he didn’t want to talk to his father about.
“We didn’t always agree, Rénald and I, but we learned to understand each other.”
For this reason, Rénald Boisvert, a former lawyer, almost always coaches Steven Butler. Clint found out that this was the man who should take care of his son.
not orthodox
It must be said that Boisvert quickly believed in the young man and agreed to compromise in order to take care of him.
“I went about it in a somewhat special way that is not unanimous among coaches. He was young when he started his career and sometimes it could take a few days or weeks to come. There are coaches who don’t like that.
“But when he came back he worked really hard and for a kid like that I’ll always be there no matter what he does and he messes it up.”
We’d tell you it’s the synopsis of a series of boxing matches, and that wouldn’t be eccentric. The sequel confirms this.
“I knew that one day the moment would come when he would give his all,” assures Rénald Boisvert. He had it in his head, that’s what he wanted to do, but at 13 or 14 sometimes it takes time. But his talent was there.
taming
“I already said in a documentary that Steven was a wild animal. “Not only was it necessary for me to tame the son, it was also necessary for me to tame the father,” emphasizes Réal Boisvert.
Clint admits to being bloodthirsty, just like his son. He had to let go so his son could express himself in the ring.
“In the beginning I often reacted more like a father than like a coach. I had to understand that boxing was his thing.
At first I was skeptical, I mourned the loss of hockey, but it was his decision. I was involved but my feelings were strong. We were fortunate to find a more down to earth coach.
When Steven was young I got kicked out of the arena for being too intense and that made Steven nervous. I went out, I came back to check and he had just scored. I went out, I came back and he had just scored another goal. These are things he experienced in hockey that he didn’t want to experience again in boxing.
think big
For Clint Butler, a talented hockey player who was also a cracker in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) in the early 2000s, there was no doubt his son had what it took to go far in his sport.
There are also images that are both amusing and haunting to explain his point.
“Céline Dion comes from a family of 13 children and wanted to be a star. It would have been easy to tell him to stay in line and join the other twelve.
“There’s more than one Mario Lemieux in the world, there’s one who worked at Yellow and we don’t know him. He just didn’t play hockey.
Butler’s honor
Although Clint let his fists do the talking on the ice at LNAH, we can say that boxing skipped a generation at Butler as his father Marshall was also a boxer. It’s also a very powerful fuel for Steven.
“Steven told me before that he wanted to get what boxing owes the Butlers. His grandfather, whom he only saw twice when he was young, had a real bond with him.
“I remember New Year’s Day every year at my mom’s house, my dad wasn’t there because he lived in Ontario. Steven disappeared and was found in a closet all alone, crying. He wondered why he didn’t see his grandfather. My mother was outraged because he didn’t even know him.
Clint’s father then rejoined his family’s life, but he endured a difficult end and did not always enjoy the respect he probably deserved. This is what feeds Steven.
“My father was suffering at the end of his life and it was partly related to boxing,” emphasizes Clint. Steven was very bitter, he didn’t understand why everyone around him had left him there with all the expectations they had of him in the past. That is his number one reason for boxing.”