Colonel Parker by Kim Clavel

DAY

Elvis had Colonel Tom Parker, Celine Dion his René Angélil, Kim Clavel had his Stéphan Larouche.

But don't jump to the ceiling, Stéphan Larouche beware a big embarrassment: “If you want, I am the manager of Kim Clavel. But you could also say that I am an adviser or a consultant. In fact, with Danielle Bouchard who is her coach, we try to supervise and plan everything so that Kim can devote herself to boxing and that she is entitled to the best,” explains Larouche.

It should be remembered for laymen that Stéphan Larouche is one of the best international boxing coaches. In Quebec, there is Marc Ramsay and there is him.

And we still have to explain that Larouche is the spouse of Danielle Bouchard, Clavel's coach. In other words, after watching Indefendable, we risk talking about boxing and Kim Clavel before going to bed.

And it's been known since Pierre Gervais' book , what happens in bed stays in bed.

MANAGER…NOT COACH

This is the first time that Stéphan Larouche has allowed himself the title of manager. But in fact, he has always led wide with his boxers. Apart, perhaps, from Jean Pascal, who is always the boss in his relationship with a coach.

But with Lucian Bute, Larouche was the coach, the adviser, the friend and often the confidant. He was the one who convinced him to add a splendid shelter to his house in Florida, he was the one who sometimes took care of the reservations or the details of life during a training camp. 

And even though he was still very young when he started with Stéphane Ouellet and Yvon Michel was omnipresent, Larouche always had his say.

But with Kim Clavel, it's infinitely more. It is he who negotiates the contracts with the promoter Yvon Michel. He then forwards the offers to Clavel. He is the one who negotiates with the new sponsors, he who manages the busy schedule of a world champion. It is also with him that the author Katherine Harvey-Pinard negotiated access to the boxer for the writing of a biographical book for young people. 

In addition, Yvon Michel respects contract clauses, which is always good news for a boxer.

Stéphan takes up a lot of space. And in fact, he always liked it.

A LITTLE TRAINING

But it's hard to stop an old clown from making funny faces. It is even more difficult to prevent a coach of international caliber and passionate about his sport from getting involved in coaching. 

Indeed, especially on days when Danielle Bouchard is taken to her school, and with her agreement, Stéphan allows himself to work on certain technical points with Kim: “ Danielle trusts me and sometimes asks me for advice or an opinion on training. I collaborate as best as I can,” he says.

In fact, Larouche controls Clavel's entire environment. Danielle Bouchard concentrates on training, Kim only has boxing to think about and when everything goes normally, Stéphan Larouche takes care of everything else.

Even a participation in Big Brother: “If it had to be done over again, Kim would be better prepared to play the social game of the show. She believed there would be a lot more challenges and physical competitions. Whereas a guy like Jean-Thomas Jobin knew the twists and turns of the show by heart,” notes Larouche with a smile.

But even though Kim Clavel was a bit disappointed not to win the contest because she's competitive in nature, Big Brother did a lot to boost her popularity: “She's a adorable, intelligent, kind, generous young woman and even more”, says Larouche speaking of his… client.

AGAINST JESSICA NERY PLATA

A good final means two big names and an uncertain result. The GYM clan strongly emphasizes the value of Jessica Nery Plata. 

She is ranked number one in the world by Boxrec, arguably the most serious boxing site after Laurent Poulin's Boxingtown. 

That said, I have watched many of Jessica Nery Plata's fights. As Stéphan Larouche rightly says, she is a Mexican who knows how to box. 

Heart, courage and good technique. But Kim Clavel will never be worried in the least by Miss Plata's strike force. Forget it.

It was supposed to be tomorrow night. We should have been there around five o'clock.

The nightmare started last night. There will be no fight. Kim Clavel has the flu.

Colonel has left the building. Thank you and good night.

ARE NOT SUPPOSED…

Are not supposed to be there, but they are. 

Aren't supposed to make the playoffs, but they're right in the thick of it.

There's no real “number one” renowned and credible, but they stop the pucks.

There is no quarterback on defense, but they take out the pucks like Big Three >…