While most Quebecers were enjoying some downtime in the company of their loved ones on December 25, Leïla Beaudoin was champing at the bit, alone with her thoughts, in the Laval apartment she occupies when she prepares for view of his battles.
Earlier in the day, she had gone twice to the gymnasium where she trains to finalize the final preparations for the confrontation she was about to face in front of her people at the Videotron Center. Originally from Témiscouata, Beaudoin has been living in the Quebec region for several years, where she bought a house with her partner.
Locked between four walls, the young woman aged 28 constantly replayed all those moments with her parents and her missed brothers, all those invitations to spend time with friends declined and those endless kilometers between the metropolis and the Old Capital swallowed up in the name of the pursuit of a dream that seemed so far away on this Christmas Eve.
What’s the point of making all these sacrifices, when life could be so easy as a nurse, a profession she intends to practice after her career. Because hearing a crowd chanting your name while you’re struggling to survive is just priceless.
But when there is ultimately no fight at the end of an eight-week training camp, even the sweetest memories associated with the practice of sport have great difficulty in making us forget an implacable reality: no fight, no salary. For the second time since the start of the year, Beaudoin saw one of his duels canceled.
The Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) determined that Claudia Andrea Lopez had no business in the same ring as the Quebecer. A decision that the latter accepts and respects, even if she admits to having suffered a shock when she found out on Monday morning.
“I’m still pretty good at turning the page, I’ve developed good mechanisms over time, but I cried for a good three hours when I heard the news,” Beaudoin confided in a telephone interview with RDS.ca. I couldn’t even get off the couch. I ended up convincing myself that I would have to get up eventually…”
This is not the first time that the WBO international super featherweight champion has raised the issue with the author of these lines, but it is always good to remember that beyond the immense disappointment of seeing a canceled duel, there are financial constraints associated with it. Beaudoin invested a lot of money ahead of this clash.
Accommodation, nutritionist, massage therapist, grocery store, dietary supplements, the list of debts is as long as it is varied. Not forgetting the long-planned trip to Mexico to reward himself after 18 intense months dedicated to boxing and studies.
“It’s certain that the last cancellation made me want to abandon absolutely everything,” admits Beaudoin. I’m at a point where I really need help. I’m waiting for the results of my exam to see if I can find a part-time job. »
A situation which is far from ideal for the one ranked 12th in the WBC, 5th in the IBF and 8th in the WBO. At this level, mental and physical recovery are as important as training and a busy schedule does not really allow for rest.
“Right now is the first time in my life that I can just focus on my training and I feel like I’ve really improved. I feel much stronger, my boxing skills are better, she says. If I had continued to study as was the case over the past few years, I would not have improved as much.
“But I want to make it clear that I love my sport and the sacrifices I make, I make them because I love it. I do them because I want to become world champion of the world. »
Double standards?
The announcement of the RAJC’s refusal is one of the many topics that managed to ignite the information highway this week, with several raising the apparent contradiction between the decision to prevent Beaudoin from confronting Lopez and to allow Kim Clavel to face Mayela Perez next week in the final of a Groupe Yvon Michel evening.
Aged 45, Lopez (26-17, 6 KOs) is a former featherweight champion who has, however, lost her last six fights as well as ten of her last twelve, while Perez (20-27, 10 K.-O.), who is 39 years old, has escaped his five previous outings and seven of his last eight.
“As a promoter, I had to do everything in my power to make her box,” explained Camille Estephan. But I can’t blame the Régie, because they want balanced fights at this level and think that it could be very dangerous for [Lopez].
“And I don’t disagree. From the moment I heard the reasoning, I told myself that the Régie was right. This was the fourth opponent we had found, there were two others who had previously been injured. These are things that happen…
“In the case of Clavel’s opponent, it’s none of my business. But I deplore the fact that keyboard champions are attacking it. She is not the one who chooses her opponents, she is there to fight. The Régie is in good hands and is making the right decisions. »
However, the search for an opponent for Quebec pugilists seems very complicated since the Government of Canada modified the requirements for electronic travel authorization (eTA) and visitor visas for citizens on February 29. But in truth, the whole machine seems broken, since the deadlines for obtaining visas are longer and longer, regardless of the country from which each potential rival comes.
