“I’m heartbroken, but right now I’m in the resilience phase. I have no choice but to think of myself and to heal myself, ”launched a disappointed Kim Clavel, but resolved at a press conference on Friday morning, the day after the cancellation of her world championship fight against Yesenia Gomez.
The Yvon Michel Group (GYM) will ultimately not present three, but rather two world championship fights at its gala at the Bell Center on December 17. The one between Kim Clavel and Mexican Yesenia Gomez for the World Boxing Council (WBC) half-fly title was canceled on Thursday after GYM was diagnosed with Dr Francis Fontaine for an injury afflicting the Quebec boxer.
At a press conference on Friday, Clavel said she was injured “in the lower body”, but declined to give further details on the nature of her pain.
“I prefer to keep it private. It’s like hockey players. I have a lower body injury, but I don’t want to talk about it specifically. Professionally, I prefer to keep it close with my team because you never know it comes to whose ears. ”
The boxer said she had dragged the injury for four years, but the pain was sporadic. It was “quite chronic”, but “always well managed,” she explained. “There the body said: you have no choice, you have to stop, you have to heal yourself. ”
Over the past few months the pain came and went, so Clavel Clan had to constantly review their training plan. The 31-year-old athlete started training camp a week later than planned.
“Then it started to go well,” said Clavel. I saw Steve in physiotherapy. As soon as we have increased the training load, which is normal, [la douleur] has returned. So I missed yet another week of training. ”
“We never reached a level of training that we hoped for a world championship,” she added.
“Kim is still young in her professional career,” said coach Danielle Bouchard. To have continued with that injury, we would have hit a wall. It is clear, clean and precise. ”
Now, the Quebecer must take rest and undergo a physiotherapy process. Adjustments will be made for his return to the gym and physical preparation. The clan gives themselves a healing time of three weeks. According to information he obtained from specialists, this is not an injury that could require surgery or put the career of the pugilist in danger.
The athlete, she understandably had difficulty accepting the decision to call off the fight at the start, even though she was aware that it was the only option. She said she was relieved to finally be diagnosed and to be able to look ahead.
“I think everyone knows I want this fight. I only have that in my head. I won’t lie to you that I spent a bad quarter of an hour, days feeling sorry for myself, being at home, seeing everything black. But then I came out of that shell. I’m going forward, I’m lucky to be surrounded like this, to have a promoter behind me, that the goal remains the same. ”
We heal. Then from that, we are going to work extra hard and I will be ready for Yesenia Gomez, there is no problem there.
Kim clavel
Fight postponed?
Promoter Yvon Michel, for his part, said he only learned on Monday that the boxer had an injury.
“It is obvious that we support Kim 100%, he said. It would have been unfair for her to try to get through that injury and step into the ring not being 100% to deliver this important fight, which is crucial for her career. For us, there is nothing dramatic. ”
Yvon Michel has already spoken with the WBC, who have agreed to postpone the fight to a later date. Now we will have to see if the Gomez clan, with whom he is already in discussions, will accept the postponement. The Mexican held her training camp in Mexico City, far from her Cancun home, which incurred costs. GYM is now trying to see if it is possible to compensate her in any way, even if that was not part of the original contract.
“Obviously, if we want to keep the good relations, of course something will have to be done”, he noted, adding that the discussions “have been constructive” until now.
If ever Gomez was not available by the time Clavel is ready to return to the ring, then the latter would go to conquer another belt. For now, the Dr Fontaine told GYM that the Quebecer should be able to fight in February, “but before deciding to fight, we will wait for her to be restored,” said Yvon Michel.
“I really have the impression that in life, nothing happens for nothing,” Clavel hinted at. Something good is going to happen to us with this, I’m not worried. ”
“Danielle, life goes on, eh! »She said to her trainer, smiling at the end of the press conference.