Kim Clavel | The beginning of healing

Bruised by the first defeat of her career and the loss of her title of world champion, Kim Clavel did not sleep a wink all night on Friday.

Not wishing to be alone, the boxer was received by Sara Kali, who was in her corner during her best friend’s cruel setback against Mexican Yesica Nery Plata, new WBA and WBC light flyweight champion.

“They ran me a bath, her husband went to buy me chips and a Kit Kat, then we chatted, we watched television,” Clavel said on the phone Tuesday afternoon. We watched LOL: Who will have the last laugh? They tried to change my mind. It made me laugh a little. »

Saturday evening, her trainer Danielle Bouchard and her adviser Stéphan Larouche landed in her three and a half with a poutine and steamed hot dogs.

Monday morning, Clavel was still recovering from the loss of his world title and his first defeat in 17 professional outings. She wanted nothing to do with responding to media commitments made the previous week. “I was like locked up at home. »

It was a call from her father Pierre, 72, who pulled her out of her torpor. “He said to me: ‟My little champion, it’s you Arturo Gatti!” He told me that everyone was stopping him in the street: ‘Are you Kim Clavel’s father? Your daughter is amazing! We’ve never seen a fight like that. It’s been a long time since we’ve vibrated like that in Quebec…” My father is so positive. I had to try to turn it into a positive like him. »

As in the weeks preceding the unification duel, the 32-year-old athlete therefore returned to the television and radio studios and called back the journalists of the written press. Without knowing if his words could make sense.

“It’s hard to do interviews today. It’s only been three days though. I want to answer as intelligently as possible and I don’t have the answers yet. It is not clear and it will not be the absolute truth. »

One thing is certain, a viewing of her 10-round fight, where she gave herself body and soul until the sound of the last bell, will be necessary. Because she has practically no memory of it.

“I had so no concentration, but I know it was a war. That there was a lot of blow for blow and that the intensity was very, very high. It was screaming in the room and people were on the end of their bench, but it’s really the memory that I have. »

She does not remember any advice given by Bouchard during the one-minute break. She only experienced this two other times, in losses in major amateur fights.

“It’s as if it’s your body that is boxing, your instinct that is boxing,” noted the one who fought more than 100 fights in her life. “It’s as if I wasn’t aware of what I was doing, of what people were saying to me in the area. I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t concentrate. Why ? I’ve no idea. I will have to ask myself questions. »

In the ring

In general, Kim Clavel nevertheless realizes that it is his “emotions that have taken over [son] ring smarts.

“Usually I could have yabbed, held her off, moved around. I was always in the action and I forced myself to be in the action. […] It’s as if in my head, I knew that what I was doing was not the solution. But my body wasn’t responding to anything else. I had to move, take a step back, give myself angles, put my jab back, but I couldn’t. I will have to work on that because to be a champion, you have to be able to control yourself in the big moments. »

Would the desire to please the 4,126 spectators at Place Bell and all those close to him have played a trick on him?

“Unconsciously, perhaps,” she conceded. I am an extremely generous person. I think of others a lot before myself. It’s a bit like that that I boxed too. I fought for the fans, to put on a show, to give them their money’s worth. In the end, I paid the price. »

If losing her world crown is what “hurts her the most”, she seeks to put the end of her immaculate record (16-1) into perspective. Savannah Marshall, Mikaela Mayer, Alycia Baumgardner, Canelo Alvarez and…. Nery Plata have all been there.

“They lost and it’s not the end of the world. We put so much pressure on ourselves with the 0 on our record. It’s scary to have a defeat. Once you have it, it’s not that bad. In the sense that I’m going to ask myself the right questions, which I might not have asked myself if I had always won. It’s also a life lesson. It can’t always be perfect. »

Surroundings

In the locker room after the fight, Clavel is delighted to have found all the same people as after his victories. “It shows the kindness and benevolence of my team towards me. Nobody made me feel bad, on the contrary. »

Yvon Michel, whom she is to meet this week, took her in his arms and remained “very positive”. Even if the promoter has never put the slightest pressure on her, she is aware that she represents a good part of the future of the GYM Group.

“In my head, it’s always: I have to do my best. But I can read newspapers. I see it: the last champion of the Group Yvon Michel, everything rests on her shoulders… I will have to find a way to protect myself because my cursed fault – which is also a great quality – is that I want to please, I am generous, I give myself a lot, I get involved. Sometimes when a big fight is approaching, should I really just focus on myself? If I have to shut down my phone, I’m going to shut it down. »

The rest is nebulous for the native of Joliette. Is a gala in April, as planned by Yvon Michel, realistic?

“We are really going to make decisions as a team, she eluded. Now I need a break. I’ve been in the gym for a while and doing nothing else. I want a good month to rest, do things I like, go see my sister in the United States. I want boxing to miss me when I come back. »

As for Nery Plata’s rematch offer in Mexico, she wonders which promoter will be able to organize such a card and provide the money accordingly. “That’s Yvon’s job. If the fight is in Hong Kong, I will go fight in Hong Kong. We will come back and I know that I have the ability to do so. »

Monday night, Clavel fell asleep around 11 p.m. on her couch. She woke up in the same place 12 hours later. This is perhaps the best sign of the onset of healing.