Rochefortais Mnatsakan Movsesyan, boosted by his stay in the US, aims for the summits

You have to follow me, because I have done very complicated things, in quite complicated situations. » Pure concentrate of energy and smiling determination, Rochefortais boxer Mnatsakan Movsesyan is right to warn. The one who will compete in his first professional fight in front of his home crowd, this Saturday at the Polygone against Toulouse’s Jonathan Bergam (at 64 kg), has a good story. Trained at SAR by Bob Chaddi, he has just spent a month in the US to make the leap into the professional world after years of Olympic boxing didn’t suit him. And in Los Angeles he discovered another universe.

You have to follow me, because I have done very complicated things, in quite complicated situations. » Pure concentrate of energy and smiling determination, Rochefortais boxer Mnatsakan Movsesyan is right to warn. The one who will compete in his first professional fight in front of his home crowd, this Saturday at the Polygone against Toulouse’s Jonathan Bergam (at 64 kg), has a good story. Trained at SAR by Bob Chaddi, he has just spent a month in the US to make the leap into the professional world after years of Olympic boxing didn’t suit him. And in Los Angeles he discovered another universe.

“You have to be there to realize the enormity of the thing. And again, it was only at home, when I opened the phone at night, when I had nothing to do, that I wondered where I was, slips the lyrical 21-year-old the young man. “Originally, the natives did not dare to start. But, for football, it is the United States. ” even if it means turning pro…

Intensity

How this former student of the Marcel-Dassault high school in Rochefort, graduated and worked in aviation, planned a month of practice near Glendale, in the suburbs of “LA”, where each neighborhood has several famous clubs, and where “there is a many guys to shoot”? “We’ll take out the wallet. You need partners or save money,” he replies disarmingly. He had planned to train at the Wild Card, where Manny Pacquiao, multiple (and legendary) champion between 1995 and 2021, visited.

“You must become champion in France and then in Europe before you want to conquer the world”

Arriving on a Saturday, he stayed there on Monday after settling in on Sunday: “The atmosphere is very tough, we don’t say hi to you… The coach sees me warming up and asks me if I want to be ‘ ‘sparring’. I did not expect such intensity. Here we do 3 minute rounds with 1 minute rest. There is only 30 seconds of rest, I couldn’t take it anymore. » But he holds his own, from the height of his 37 amateur fights, against a man who has more than 100 and is already referenced at world pro level.

On Tuesday, he goes to “a very famous shop” that sells “punching bags for the greatest champions, made by people of the same origin as me. They put me in touch with the room where Arsen Goulamirian, French world champion (under 91 kg, editor’s note) trains. You understand ? (smile). » There, the renowned trainer Edmond Tarverdyan offered him a pair of gloves about thirty kilometers away.

“I Knew Nothing”

“A big room, loud music, no wardrobe… It’s really a fight, but with helmets. I drive 4 laps, the guys say to me «do you realize what you just did? “. He was ranked 30th in the world, with 8 fights, 8 wins…” Another American of Armenian origin confided in him that a coach really liked his boxing. And here is Mnatsakan Movsesyan at the New Era Boxing Club, honed by trainer Deon Elam for a month, with about fifteen 6 to 8 rounds of gloves organized against opponents such as Alan Garcia, Adam “Blunose” Lopez, Mathias Radcliffe …

He came back changed. “With Arsen we talked a lot, it made me grow. I realized I didn’t know anything, he confides. I used to think about my preparations before entering the ring. There I no longer ask myself the question: my job is to bring victory to my club and at home. That’s it. I also know how to do better. The first day I was upgraded I was a little nervous. But it’s like when a dog barks: at first you’re scared, but if you stay calm, it calms down. This is a bit of a weird example, but I learned to control my opponent. »

For what ambition? Become a world champion. There are steps to take, you have to become champion in France and then in Europe before you want to conquer the world. But you have to aim for the top to get past what lies ahead. » Especially therefore this first professional match at Polygone. “It’s nice to box at home, but in the ring you’re all alone. If I’m not ready, friends can shout as much as they want, I don’t give more (laughs). But I’m ready. » Rochefort and the others are warned.

Two regional belts at stake

After 5 beginner matches, from 19.00 (price 10 euros), SAR Boxe, still affiliated with the Club Pugilistique Rochelais, offers 13 elite amateur fights, then 2 professional meetings: Mnatsakan Movsesyan, then Rochelais Megan Ouvrard. in 51 kg, against Minerva Gutiérrez. Among the duels to follow, two will result in winning a belt in Nouvelle-Aquitaine: Salah Khadhzikhanov (CPR) will face another Maritime, Mathis Perpeau (Double Impact Saintais), in the 80 kg category; Rochefortais Elie Lelaine, former senior, will challenge Samba Camara (Blagnac) in 75kg. Rochefortai’s Axel Chusseau will also be followed in 71 kg.

The Armenian Connection

Mnatsakan Movsesyan, 21, has been boxing “for about ten years” in Rochefort, where he came after fleeing the war in Armenia. “My parents sold everything overnight. As a 9-year-old, I found myself in a country where I didn’t speak the language, where my friends weren’t. My parents didn’t even sell the house for half price to get away, we had nothing left. »
“We arrived in Paris, then to the Red Cross in Poitiers, where there was no room there, like at 115. We stayed on the street for a while. I remember that we slept on the benches at the station, that I asked my parents why we slept outside and that they didn’t know what to answer me, he smiles despite everything. We were with my parents and my little sister. My dad has shoulder problems today because he carried it all the time then, it was too big for the pram. »
“One evening someone from the same background as us took us to Emmaüs in Châtellerault, who helped us enormously. Until we found an association that hosted us in Rochefort, he confides. And that’s how I ended up there. For my parents it must have been very hard, it is now that I realize everything we went through. » And in the USA, where he particularly found Arsen Goulamirian, the Armenian connection was again in full force. : “In Glendale I think there are almost 300,000 Armenians, I lost a few words, but I managed to sneak in and find what I needed to do (smile). »