You have to follow me, because I have done very complicated things, in quite complicated situations. » Pure concentrate of energy and smiling determination, the Rochefortais boxer Mnatsakan Movsesyan is right to warn. The one who will compete in his first professional fight in front of his audience, this Saturday at the Polygone against Toulouse’s Jonathan Bergam (in 64 kg), has quite a story. Trained at the SAR by Bob Chaddi, he has just spent a month in the United States to better take the plunge into the pro world after years of Olympic boxing suited him less. And in Los Angeles, he discovered another universe.
“You have to be there to realize the immensity of the thing. And again, it was only at home, opening the phone at night, when I had nothing to do, that I wondered where I was, slips the voluble 21-year-old young man. It was incredible. » Originally, the native of Armenia did not dare to get started. But “I wake up boxing, eat boxing, sleep boxing. For football, it’s Brazil, for boxing, it’s the United States. It’s a religion. » So, even if it means going pro…
Intensity
How this former student of the Marcel-Dassault high school in Rochefort, graduated and working in aeronautics, planned a month of internship near Glendale, in the suburbs of “LA”, where each neighborhood has several famous clubs, and where “ there are a lot of guys to shoot”? “We take out the wallet. You need partners or save money,” he replies, disarming. He had planned to train at the Wild Card, where Manny Pacquiao, multiple (and legendary) world champion between 1995 and 2021, visited.
“You have to become champion of France and then of Europe before you want to conquer the world”
Arriving on a Saturday, he stayed there on Monday after settling in on Sunday: “The atmosphere is very tough, we don’t say hello to you… The coach sees that I’m warming up and asks me if I want to be ‘ ‘sparring”. I didn’t expect such intensity. Here, we do 3 minute rounds with a 1 minute rest. There, there are only 30 seconds of rest, I couldn’t take it anymore. » But he holds up, from the height of his 37 amateur fights, against a man who has more than 100 and is already referenced at the world pro level.
Mnatsakan Movsesyan poses next to Mohammed Ali’s star on Hollywood Boulevard.
M.M. collection.
On Tuesday, he goes to “a very well-known store” which sells “punching bags for the greatest champions, made by people of the same origin as me. They put me in contact with the room where Arsen Goulamirian, French world champion (under 91 kg, Editor’s note) trains. You realize ? (smile). » There, the renowned coach Edmond Tarverdyan offered him a pair of gloves about thirty kilometers away.
“I didn’t know anything”
“A huge room, loud music, no locker room… It’s really a fight, but with helmets. I do 4 rounds, the guys say to me “do you realize what you just did? “. He was ranked 30th in the world, with 8 fights, 8 victories…” Another American of Armenian origin confided to him that a coach really liked his boxing. And here is Mnatsakan Movsesyan at the New Era Boxing Club, honed by trainer Deon Elam for a month, with around fifteen 6 to 8 rounds of gloves organized against opponents such as Alan Garcia, Adam “Blunose” Lopez, Mathias Radcliffe…
M.M. collection.
Mnatsakan Movsesyan, center, alongside Deon Elam (right).
He came back changed. “With Arsen, we talked a lot, it made me grow. I realized that I didn’t know anything, he confides. Before, I thought about my preparation before going into the ring. There, I no longer ask myself the question: my job is to bring victory to my club and at home. That’s all. I also know how to manage myself better. The first day I was upgraded, I was a little nervous. But it’s like when a dog barks: at first you’re afraid but if you stay calm, it calms down. This is a bit of a weird example, but I learned to control my opponent. »
For what ambition? Become a world champion. There are steps to take, you have to become champion of France then of Europe before wanting to conquer the world. But you have to aim for the top to get past what’s ahead. » In particular, therefore, this first pro fight at the Polygone. “It’s nice to box at home but in the ring, you’re all alone. If I’m not ready, friends can shout as much as they want, I won’t give any more (laughs). But I’m ready. » Rochefort and the others are warned.
Two regional belts at stake
After 5 novice fights, from 7 p.m. (price 10 euros), the SAR Boxe, still associated with the Club Pugilistique Rochelais, offers 13 elite amateur fights, then 2 professional meetings: that of Mnatsakan Movsesyan, then, then the Rochelais Megan Ouvrard, in 51 kg, against Minerva Gutiérrez. Among the duels to follow, two will result in the winning of a Nouvelle-Aquitaine belt: Salah Khadhzikhanov (CPR) will be opposed to another Maritime, Mathis Perpeau (Double Impact Saintais), in the 80 kg category; the Rochefortais Elie Lelaine, past senior, will challenge Samba Camara (Blagnac) in 75 kg. The Rochefortais Axel Chusseau will also be followed in 71 kg.
Romuald Augé Archives / SOUTH WEST
Salah Khadhzikhanov will face Mathis Perpeau.
The Armenian connection
Mnatsakan Movsesyan, 21, has been boxing “for around ten years” in Rochefort, where he arrived after fleeing the war in Armenia. “My parents sold everything overnight. At 9 years old, I found myself in a country where I didn’t speak the language, where there weren’t my friends. My parents sold the house not even for half price to escape, we had nothing left. »
“We arrived in Paris, then at the Red Cross in Poitiers, where there was no room there, like at 115. We stayed on the street for some time. I remember that we slept on the benches at the station, that I asked my parents why we slept outside and that they didn’t know what to answer me, he smiles despite everything. We were with my parents and my little sister. My father has shoulder problems today because he carried it all the time back then, it was too big for the stroller. »
“One evening, someone from the same origin as us took us to Emmaüs in Châtellerault, who helped us enormously. Until we found an association that hosted us in Rochefort, he confides. And that’s how I ended up there. For my parents, it must have been very hard, it’s now that I realize everything we went through. » And in the United States, where he notably found Arsen Goulamirian, the Armenian connection was once again in full force. : “In Glendale, I think there are almost 300,000 Armenians, I lost some words, but I managed to sneak in and find what I needed to do (smile). »
M.M. collection.
His exchanges with Arsen Goulamirian (left) made him grow mentally.
