Simon Kean (23-1-0, 22 KOs) arrived in Saudi Arabia last weekend for his fight, which will take place on Saturday. In the meantime, he had an extraordinary experience.
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Earlier in the week, along with other boxers whose names appear on the menu, he dined with Turki Al-Sheikh, who is an adviser to the royal court and president of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority. So he’s a big guy in Riyadh.
“I was expecting something formal and serious, but he came with his hair frizzy and unkempt, wearing sunglasses and wearing flip-flops. He seemed really relaxed,” the Trois-Rivières resident said during a telephone interview with Le Journal earlier this week.
“It goes against our image, I thought we almost had to bow to it, but not at all. It helps relieve the stress of the week.”
Challenge
Let’s talk about stress, because the 34-year-old boxer will feel it as the week progresses. He knows the odds against New Zealander Joseph Parker (32-3-0, 22 KOs), a former WBO world champion, are not in his favor.
“I’m the underdog, it’s a big challenge but I’m capable of overcoming it. It will require a great effort from me. I can’t afford average performance.
“The way I look at it is that I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this.”
He believes his opponent is anything but unreachable.
“He’s beatable [lors de son avant-dernier combat] he was at his limit [Jack] Massey, which I find very common. »
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Simon Kean is a very down to earth man. He knows very well that he has to make a big blow to make history and that an honorable performance in defeat will not be enough to achieve his ambitions.
“Even if you have a good performance and lose the same one, no one remembers it.”
And at his age, he’s starting to think about what’s next. He knows he probably won’t have many more fights to secure his future.
“I’m not hungry, I’m starving. I need this victory. My life will be easier after this. I also want to earn money, I want to think about a good retirement.
“Yes, the fight is paying off, but a win would open doors for me and that’s where it will pay off.”
Different work
The Grizzly believes he did everything he could to deliver the performance of his career in Riyadh on Saturday.
“It’s a cliché to say I had a good training camp, but it was a good one. We’ve already talked about Simon 2.0, but this will be Simon 3.0.”
And what did he do differently to be in the best possible shape? He trained his brain.
“I did everything even more than before. I did neuroplasticity and saw a huge difference.
“It affects eye speed, peripheral vision and decision making. I went there three times before leaving for Saudi Arabia.”
To empty
Like many fighters, whether in boxing or mixed martial arts, Simon Kean feels fear as the fight approaches.
So when we ask him what he’s going to do an hour before entering the ring, he explains that he’ll only focus on what he can control to drive out parasitic thoughts.
“I’ll think about my boxing technique because I’m too scared and I’ll think about how much is at stake, which is too big. You can’t stop the brain from thinking, so I choose what to include in my thoughts.
“I fight the darkness with sunshine.”