To be unified champion of the super half-averages, this is the ultimate objective of Marie-Eve Dicaire. Her fight on December 17 against Cynthia Lozano will set the stage for the future. And the boxer has “really the intention that the table is well set”.
“It is she who is on my way, so it will be the first” to be packed, launched a Marie-Eve Dicaire as smiling as usual at a press conference on Tuesday noon.
That is clear. His fight against Lozano (9-0-0, 7 K.-O.) represents for Dicaire (17-1-0) “a short-term objective in a long-term objective”.
If she wins that evening, she will become the fourth Quebecer after Arturo Gatti, Jean Pascal and Lou Brouillard to regain a world title. And she will do it at the Bell Center, at home, just before the clash between Artur Beterbiev and Marcus Browne.
“For me, boxing at the Bell Center is a childhood dream come true,” she said. I grew up listening to the Montreal Canadiens, going to see him play at the Bell Center. ”
It will be a sixth world championship clash for the Quebecoise. On March 5, she dropped the belt she had held since 2018 at the hands of the best pound for pound in the world, the American Clarissa Shields. She had bowed for the first time in her professional career after 10 rounds, all to the advantage of her opponent, but during which she had shown resilience.
“My loss against Shields is a small incident, a bump in my journey,” she said. On the other hand, I think that the great athletes [peuvent] use those bumps to get even more ready, more seasoned, more prepared and that’s what I intend to do. ”
“I think it was above all a gain in confidence that was made,” she added. I proved to the whole world and to myself that I could have my place with the best, that I was able to belong to that class, to that elite. For me, it has been very beneficial. ”
Avoid complacency
Dicaire, aspirant no 1 for this title, will face a real “brawler” in Cynthia Lozano, for whom it will be a first fight in a foreign ring.
“She’s looking for trouble. She wants to fight in a phone booth ”, summarized the vice-president, operations and recruitment of the Yvon Michel Group, Bernard Barre. His seven knockouts in nine clashes are proof of this. “It gives a good indication that she’s not going there to make time,” he said.
It is the first time that the Mexican, aspiring no 5 for this title, will face a boxer as experienced as Dicaire. The latter, even if it is clearly superior on paper, does not intend to fall into complacency as it has already done in the past, she admitted.
“There comes a time when it’s easy to fall into complacency because you win victory over victory, she explained. These are defenses that, despite the fact that I had worked hard, were getting a little easy because I didn’t have to go and tap [loin]. In the case of [mon combat contre Clarissa] Shields, we saw that I still had scabs to eat. Cynthia Lozano is going to pay for all of this. ”
“You should never underestimate an opponent because in boxing anything can happen,” she continued. […] In some associations, Cynthia Lozano is ranked ahead of me. For me, it’s very motivating because I tell myself: there is a problem here, we have to correct things. There’s no better way to fix it than by winning and showing that she has no business ahead of me in the leaderboards. ”
Forget the past
Cynthia Lozano’s name has been a lot of discussion over the past few months. In her last encounter, on May 14, she was knocked out. to the Mexican Jeanette Zacarias Zapata. The latter died a few months later, after receiving another direct at the head from Quebecer Marie-Pier Houle.
In the days following Zapata’s death in September, disturbing images of the fight against Lozano toured the web.
Asked how she planned to ignore the fact that Lozano was Zapata’s second-to-last rival, Dicaire said that “it doesn’t matter what she’s done in the past, it doesn’t matter once the bell rings. December 17. For me, that already belongs to ancient history. ”
“I took the time to sort out this situation,” she suggested. The boxing world was shaken by this tragedy, so I took the time with my team to analyze the situation, to understand things and to be able to put it behind me. ”
Note that Lozano was present at the virtual press conference, but connection problems prevented her from speaking to the media.
Maurice-Richard Prize
Marie-Eve Dicaire received the Maurice-Richard Prize from the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste on Monday. He recognizes his talent as an athlete, his taste for going beyond, his social commitment and his relationship with Quebecers. She is the third woman and the first athlete in the world of boxing to receive it. In this regard, the main interested party said she was particularly flattered and touched. “To win championship belts, trophies, medals in my sport is one thing. But when you start to go into a little more recognition towards society, for an involvement, it is even more meaningful for me. As professional athletes, we have the power to change things, a responsibility towards society. From my performance, that’s what I want to do. ”