Last Thursday, December 11, was fight day for the Eye of the Tiger fighters. They stormed the stage of the Casino du Lac-Leamy theatre in Gatineau.
Before leaving Montreal, I still had a few missions to complete. Important ones.
First, there was Leïla.
Her final intense training session before the big leap. She showed up. Solid, focused, sharp. She’s ready.
Then came Caroline Veyre, also preparing for a world championship fight. For Caro, it was a sparring session. Serious, disciplined, convincing. Both women put in strong performances. I was a satisfied coach.
Before braving the storm on the way to Gatineau, Antonin and I recorded the tenth episode of our podcast, Le PunchCast. As always: fun, laughter, a chance to clear the mind… before the intensity.
In Gatineau, I started the evening in my role as cutman for the first two fights, then closed out the card as an analyst on TVA Sports, alongside the talented Nicolas Martineau. An experience I loved. But the night dragged on. Late. Very late. And tomorrow, I fly to Miami.
Photo: Vincent Ethier – Marc Ramsay and Jhon Orobio
Impossible to leave without taking a moment with Marc Ramsay.
He knows what awaits us. He’s lived it. Many times.
Marc is a great one. He doesn’t like being called that—he’s humble—but he is.
I listen. I take notes. You never know everything. Forgetting a detail here can be costly. His words are reassuring. Motivating.
I will rise to the occasion. Make him proud.
Miami doesn’t welcome you.
It swallows you whole.
Even before touching down, you can feel the electricity in the cabin.
The excitement is palpable.
The local basketball team is called the Heat. That’s no coincidence.
Photo: ESPN – LeBron James
Here, everything burns: the light, the music, the air, the nerves.
When we land, it’s almost 11 p.m. Fatigue makes us a little silly—we laugh for no reason. We know we’re about to step into another world.
We get off the plane, bodies heavy.
But in the mind, something switches on.
A certainty.
The week beginning now will not be ordinary.
Everything will be big.
Everything will be intense.
Everything will be wow.
But between us, I’m hoping for a different kind of wow.
The kind that echoes through the stands after a perfect fight.
For that, Leïla will have to wage the fight of her life.
Julian, our driver, is waiting for us. Midnight-gray suit, impeccable presence.
Nothing has begun… yet everything is already in motion.
The Fontainebleau, Miami Beach
Luxury, vertigo, and responsibility.
Past midnight.
The city doesn’t sleep. The Fontainebleau even less.
This isn’t a hotel.
It’s a theater.
The lobby feels like a set too grand to be real: polished marble, pulsing music, bars still full, pools lit up like living mirrors. Here, people don’t go to bed. They arrive. They leave. They film. They flaunt.
A photo shoot in one corner.
An influencer filming themselves in the other.
Everything is a spectacle. Everyone wants to be seen.
And in the middle of this magnificent chaos, a boxer arrives to work.
A girl from Témiscouata, here to write history.
Photo: Vincent Ethier – Leïla Beaudoin
We pick up the keys. It takes longer than expected. Finding a room with a bathtub for Leïla at midnight is almost a challenge.
We walk through endless, ocean-colored corridors toward the rooms.
We check everything:
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the distance from the elevators (to avoid the party crowd),
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the quality of the beds,
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the bathtub — essential for weight cutting,
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the space to move, stretch, train,
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the gym… which closes far too early, at 8 p.m.
There’s no refrigerator. We’ll adapt.
JF will have work to do starting tomorrow. He’ll have to find solutions, improvise, adjust. All week long, cooler in hand, he’ll make sure Leïla never runs out of energy… while cutting the final pounds before the weigh-in.
But back to Leïla.
Barely in her room, she unpacks. She organizes. She settles in.
Almost like at home.
I watch her.
I see it in her eyes.
The countdown has begun.
December 12
The Silent Transition
It’s late.
Too late for major setup. I write these lines and my eyes burn. Still, it’s a pleasure to share this journal, this experience with you.
No cameras yet.
No journalists.
No face-offs.
Just the team setting down their bags and quietly taking stock of the terrain. Discreetly. Without drawing attention.
Leïla goes to bed. Rest is sacred.
As for me, I head out on reconnaissance. I grab JF on the way—he agrees to come along. We scout:
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the exit to the beach,
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the shortest route to the training facility,
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quiet spots where she’ll be able to isolate herself.
It’s past one in the morning.
I love this kind of treasure hunt.
It’s how I breathe. How I stay one step ahead.
Morale is good.
The troops are ready.
The objective never changes:
we will win.
I return to my room.
The Eve of the First Look
In the silence, I mentally organize the day ahead.
Face-off at 3 p.m.
In Coral Gables.
In a massive house.
620 Arvida Parkway. A cinematic address.
Photo: MVP – Jake Paul, Alycia Baumgardner, Leïla Beaudoin and Anthony Joshua…
Jake Paul.
Anthony Joshua.
Un duel improbable.
Et au milieu, une fille du Bas-Saint-Laurent.
Leïla Beaudoin vs Alycia Baumgardner.
Demain, elles se regarderont dans les yeux pour la première fois de la semaine.
Demain, la tension dormante s’éveillera.
Alycia est volubile.
Elle parlera fort. Elle prendra l’espace.
Elle dira qu’elle est le nouveau visage de la boxe féminine.
Qu’elle dévorera Leïla.
Mais Baumgardner ignore une chose.
Leïla a un plan.
Il est simple.
Ruiner la fête.
Demain, le combat deviendra réel.
Bienvenue dans l’art de la guerre.
Mais ce soir, il n’y a que la chambre.
Et une athlète aux yeux fermés; calme, ancrée, prête.
Elle sera victorieuse.
Elle surprendra le monde.
Photo: MVP – Leïla Beaudoin and Alycia Baumgardner
